Torn but There
by dbzespio
Summary: Thinking the countryside is nothing more than a quaint and empty place, Chelsea escapes her life in the city to become a farmer, where she can finally be alone and at peace. However, she'll soon discover that her initial assumptions couldn't be less accurate. This was originally entitled "Hearty Harvest?" Chapters 1-3 have been revised.
1. Pokemon? What's that?

I couldn't see anything. The world was entirely black. I could hear voices, but they sounded so far away…

I let out a groan. My head was pounding. What had happened?

"She's wakin' up!" someone cried out.

"Maybe we should dump water on her face, Grampa!"

"No! Conflabit! That don't solve nuthin'!"

I finally opened my eyes, only to see an array of blurry faces staring back at me.

"She's awake!" one of them cried out.

"Are ya alrigh' there, missy?" another asked.

"Ugh…" I groaned, "where… am I?"

"Yer on the Sunshine Islands! My guess is you've washed up ashore during that nasty storm we had last night…"

I blinked furiously to focus my vision. Finally, I was able to see who was speaking to me. It seemed to be an old man, along with a young man and woman around my age. The two younger people had, of all things, pink hair.

Just _where _am I?

"Huh? A storm?" I suddenly recalled, once the old man's words started to make sense in my mind.

"Yes'm, are you alright?" the young man asked.

"Of course she's fine, stupid!" The young woman slugged the young man on the arm. "She wouldn't be talking to us if she wasn't!"

"Yeah… I think I'm alright," I told them as I urged myself to sit upright. I felt a little dizzy at first, but thankfully, the feeling passed rather quickly.

"Well, young missy, mah name's Taro, and these here are mah gran'children!" The old man smiled at me. "We're glad to see that you're feelin' alright now…!"

"My name's Elliot." The young man nodded to me as he rubbed his sore arm.

"And I'm Natalie!" The young woman smirked at me. "And who are you?"

"I'm Chelsea…" I smiled weakly, "Um… I guess I really did wash ashore… the last I remember, I was heading off on a trip… and the boat started rocking… I think I must have… hit my head or something…"

"Well, you're safe now!" Taro sniffed loudly as if to affirm this declaration, and he quickly rose to his feet.

Elliot and Natalie stood as well. I was grateful Elliot offered me a hand, since I still felt a little dizzy when I rose to my feet.

"Sorry but, where did you say I was again?" I asked, once the dizziness wore off.

"The Sunshine Islands. And I'm sorry to say that you're going to be stuck here for a while. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the next boat to arrive."

"Whoa… wait a second… Did you say the Sunshine Islands?"

I could hardly believe my luck! What great news! Well, aside from the fact that I was still alive and everything…

"That's where I was headed in the first place!"

"Really?" Taro blinked. "Why… are you here to become a farmer? Or a rancher maybe?"

"Well, yeah…" I scratched my neck embarrassedly.

Sure, I was a pretty weak and skinny city dweller, but I really wanted to give farming a try. I really hated my life in the city… I knew if I tried, I could find a way to make this work. Besides, I only needed enough money to get by on my own. It wasn't like I had a family to take care of or anything…

"It might sound a little strange… but I've actually been craving a simpler life…" I admitted.

"I completely understand!" Taro beamed widely, showing off his practically nonexistent teeth. "That's _exactly_ why I came out of retirement and moved here! To get my family to _earn_ a REAL livin'!"

"You're a farmer too?" I asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course not!" Taro looked at me like I was crazy. "My fam's in the shippin' bidness! My grandkids forage for… whatever they can find all daylong, and_ I_ give them orders! My daughter's the housewife."

"But if you decide to be a farmer…" Natalie looked delighted as she started to put the pieces together, "then we won't have to forage anymore! We can just sell all the crops and stuff that you harvest!"

"Uh…" I couldn't really think of what to say here. It really sounded like I was going to get the short end of the stick in this situation…

"That's amazing!" Elliot chimed in happily.

"And since this island's completely deserted except for us, we can move you into a new house right away!" Taro told me enthusiastically.

"You have… a house… for me?"

"Yeah! There's a bunch of abandoned houses 'round here!" Taro explained happily, like it was the best situation ever.

"Uh… Do you suppose there's a reason for that?" I asked, feeling only a little less than freaked out.

"Ah, who cares?" Natalie punched my arm. And it actually _really_ hurt.

"Now come on! I'll show you your new home! I already have the perfect place in mind!" Taro exclaimed, already starting to walk away. "Oh, but first! I'll need to have you meet my daughter, Felicia! Such a lovely lady, she is!"

The rest of us followed after him, but it didn't take us long to catch up, since he walked quite slowly. On the way to my 'new place' we bumped into Felicia. She was Elliot and Natalie's mother, and she had pink hair just like they did. I didn't get to find out what color her eyes were… because she was too happy; her face seemed to be permanently stuck in a cheerful expression. Normally, that sort of person would really freak me out, but in her case, I actually held the belief that she was just a genuinely happy person. At least, that's what I hoped, anyway…

After that was all taken care of, Taro led me to my new house alone. "It ain't much, but it's free o' charge. I doubt ya'd find a better deal in that conflabbed city!"

"No, I guess not," I agreed as I gazed over my new house.

It was old, but it seemed to be all in one piece, thankfully. And I didn't think there were any leaks where any rain might seep in. Wanting to check out the interior next, I carefully walked up to the door and opened it. The inside surprisingly wasn't too dusty, and, judging by the mud on the floor, it actually looked like an animal or something had been in here recently.

"Uh… There mighta been a few critters in here seekin' shelter from the rain yes'erday, but I'm sure they'll stay out once they notice you've taken over…" Taro shrugged.

"Yeah, that's fine. Thank you!"

"Well, it's gettin' late, and I don't want ya stressin' yerself too hard today. I suggest ya rest up and get to work first thing t'morrow morning. But you can do whatever ya like. It's yer life now," Taro pointed out, smiling at me with a nearly toothless grin.

"Sure thing. Thanks."

"And if ya need any halp, you let me know! I was a rancher back in my day, and I have plenty o' tips for ya!"

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Good!" Taro was just walking away when he suddenly stopped and turned back around to face me. "And just so's ya know, there's lotsa strange critters on these here islands… I don't want ya ta be frigh'ened, but it'd be in yer best interest ta keep yer eyes open."

"Uh… what do you mean?" I asked, confused.

What kind of animals? Was he talking about raccoons? Foxes, maybe? Bears…?

"Good night!" Taro shouted back to me. Apparently he couldn't hear me.

Ah well. I decided to just let it be for now. He was probably just superstitious anyway.

Shrugging, I went inside to set my bag down onto the bed and then decided to go for a walk around my new farm. It all looked to be pretty run down and old, but it was all for free and still relatively intact, so I wasn't going to complain about it. By the time I finished wandering the fields and checking out the stables, I decided to head back up to the house to fix myself some dinner and get to bed. Even though the sun hadn't completely fallen yet, I was already feeling pretty tired out.

The moment I stepped inside, however, something suddenly charged at me and knocked me to the ground. It just came completely out of nowhere; I was too stunned to even think to scream, and whatever it was that knocked me over quickly had me pinned to the ground. I could hardly even breathe as my assailant clutched my neck in a strong grip.

_Who are you?_

I merely whimpered in response. It was hard even to just breathe, let alone talk. What was… going on?!

_Didn't you hear me? I said _who are you_?!_

"Chel-chelsea…" I choked.

_Chelsea? _

"Y-yes…"

_Hmph. Tell me, why has a human like you decided to come here? _

What? Who was this, some kind of alien or something? Calling me a human… like it was something strange… How could this attacker speak English and yet, think that humans were not normal? What the heck was going on?!

But even in my panicked state, it was getting hard to think… My limited range of vision was starting to swirl…

_Hey! Wake up! _Answer_ me!_

The arm gripping my neck thankfully began to relax slightly. It was likely the only thing keeping me from passing out right then and there.

Talk_! Quit holding out on me; now I know you can breathe. Answer my question!_

"I don't-! I don't _know_! Just—please! Let me go!" I pleaded. "I don't want to be killed or abducted by some alien! I haven't done anything! I swear!"

_Don't act like the victim! I know how you humans are!_

"Please! Just-_believe me_! I really don't know anything that's going on! I only just got here! Really! I swear!"

I desperately tried to peek at the alien creature through the corner of my eye, but I just couldn't see it.

_Pathetic! _ The attacker scoffed and shoved me aside.

I gasped for breath, glad to finally be able to breathe normally once again. Once I felt like I had enough air to survive, I looked up to see who had attacked me. Or rather, _what _had attacked me…

It was some kind of creature. It looked like some kind of kangaroo or something, but it had blue and black fur with a yellow torso. Maybe this was this what kangaroos from Mars looked like?

"Whoa… I have never seen a talking kangaroo before…" I said quietly but instantly regretted it, out of fear that this creature would get even angrier and decide to attack me yet again.

The kangaroo sniffed indignantly. But thankfully, he seemed to have decided not to do anything else other than that.

Completely uncertain as to what might happen next, I watched him just as carefully as he watched me. This kangaroo creature wasn't even that tall really, but it sure was strong. I was afraid to even move; I certainly didn't want to make it any angrier than it was before, but it seemed to have calmed itself down somehow. Or perhaps it always looked this way; I really wouldn't know. Well… it wasn't trying to kill me anymore at least.

"Um…" After the longest of pauses, I figured I might as well hedge my bets and say something to it. "So… why are you here, anyway? Did you get… lost or something…? I mean, why planet Earth? And here of all places? I'm sure Mars is much better… suited for… blue colored… kangaroos…"

I would have laughed at myself for asking such stupid questions if this wasn't such a serious situation. But as it was, I really couldn't think of anything better to ask of this strange creature. I was just too shocked by… well, everything that had happened.

_Why am _I_ here? This is _my_ house!_

"Uh… I… I'm sorry… I'll… I'll get out…" I stammered and hurriedly got up to leave. But the blue kangaroo stepped in my way, blocking the door.

_You're not going anywhere until you answer my questions._

"O-okay… Just promise me… that you won't… attack me again… Please?"

_I won't. Not unless you give me reason to do so._

"Sure… Okay… Fair enough…"

I was pretty anxious, but for some reason, I actually believed this kangaroo. There was something weird about him. Something I couldn't quite place. Well, something other than the fact that he was blue and could speak English. But I still wished I had a baseball bat or something to help even the odds if he suddenly went wild again. For now, I supposed all I could do was try to reason with him.

"So… uh… what do you have to ask me… Mister… uh… Kangaroo?"

_My name is Lucario. _He looked at me with a sudden flash of anger in his eyes. _It surprises me that no one has told you of my name._

"Um… what do you mean? Who would-"

_Who sent you?_

"Uh… nobody… I mean, I just came here to be a farmer… I came because I wanted to… I mean, I… I _totally _didn't know that this was your place. Believe me, if I did, I definitely would _not _have decided to barge in and bother you like this. Really!"

_Hmph. You seem to be telling the truth. But knowing your kind, I still have my doubts._

"Um…? What?"

_You were most likely trained to be deceitful, and they must have sent _you_ in the hopes that I would drop my guard. _Though Lucario was addressing me, it seemed as though he were wrapped up in his own thoughts. _A weakling like you… they must have suspected I'd take pity on you… but your Aura signature… It shows no ill intentions… It just… makes no sense… I don't understand this at all..._

"Um, I'm sorry, but…" I scratched the back of my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about exactly… I mean, first of all, who's this 'they' you keep talking about?"

_Humans. _Lucario spat darkly.

"Wait a second… How are you talking to me without even opening your mouth?"

He gave me a sidelong look before answering. _I use my Aura abilities to help me speak your language. It's the only way I can communicate with humans, seeing as how my mouth is unable to produce the same sort of sounds this language of yours utilizes. _

"Okay… So what's this… Aura… thing?"

_Aura is the essence of every living being. It is our life force, the spirit and energies that live inside all of us. I have the ability to detect and manipulate this force. _

"Uh… so are you saying you could… kill me… by destroying my aura essence or something?"

_No. Your Aura is yours. I can only read it. I am unable to manipulate any Aura signatures other than my own. _

"Oh. Okay then."

_You're quite… ignorant… aren't you?_

I laughed embarrassedly. "Um... yeah… I guess so."

Lucario just stared at me, as if I had an extra arm growing out of my head.

"Um, do you have… more questions? I'm just wondering… could I…? Can I leave now?"

_Feh. Do what you want. _ Lucario suddenly turned his back on me and went over to the other side of the room. _You're ignorant, weak, and extremely useless. You will never be a threat to me, regardless of how strange you are._

"Um… okay then."

I glanced over at the bed where I had left my bag. It and its contents were strewn all over the floor. Apparently Lucario had searched it. I sighed and walked over to pick it all up.

As I did so, I figured I might as well ask the question that had been on my mind for some time now. "So why do you… seem to dislike humans so much, Lucario? What kind of… experiences have you had with them?"

From his spot in the corner, Lucario sniffed indignantly. No answer other than that.

"You know… I suppose you could say I… kind of… hate humans a little bit too…" I mused, more to myself than to Lucario, since I figured he wasn't even listening anyway.

_How is that so?_

Ah, so apparently he was listening.

"Well… I actually decided to move here from the city because… I was getting tired of dealing with people who are impatient, greedy, rude, you know… the typical stuff… Just… uh… typical things like that…"

_What is the city? _Lucario suddenly asked.

"The city? Um, it's a place where many people live together. It makes it easier to do business and things like that, I guess."

_Are you saying… you left your kind?_

"Well… I guess you could say that…?" I shrugged.

_So you really mean what you told me earlier? You were not sent here by anyone? You came here on your own will? Acting entirely alone?_

"Well, technically… you could say that Taro sent me… to this house specifically, I mean…" I mused, not really thinking much of it. But this was probably a pretty bad thing to muse about… because Lucario sprang back into the vicinity again, and he did not look happy at all.

Who_ is Taro? _he demanded to know.

"Taro's just some… old guy that said I could live here! I'm sure he didn't know that you were living here first!" I said frantically.

Agh! What was I thinking! Saying something like that! The _last _thing I needed was for some pissed off kangaroo to go kill a helpless old man just because I had said something incredibly stupid!

_How long has this 'Taro' been living here? _Lucario demanded to know.

"I don't know! I don't think he has for very long though… But just please don't attack him or go crazy or something! Please! He's _not_ evil! I swear it! Or at least… I think s-! Agh, I'm sorry! Just please don't do it!"

_Hmph. You must be referring to that old man with a family just across the bridge… I've been watching them carefully for a few days now… They haven't bothered any Pokémon yet, but it might just be a matter of time before they do… And if they're herding in more humans, then I'm certain no good will come of it… I may have to take action against them after all…_

I jumped to my feet, holding up my fists. Sure, it was a pretty feeble attempt to intimidate something so much stronger and faster than me, but I wasn't about to let this kangaroo plot an attack on that family; I had to do_ something_ to stop him.

"Hey! You… Leave them alone! They haven't done anything to you!"

Lucario's head jerked back to face me, his expression alone enough to chill my resolve. _Why do you defend them? I thought you said you turned on your kind? Or was that all a lie!_

"They haven't done anything wrong!" I insisted, but my fists unclenched, already proving my inability to do much of anything right.

_And when they do...? What happens then? _he scowled. _Don't you see? It's only a matter of time before the islands are riddled with humans once again! Well, I say: never again! I plan to stop them before they start!_

I paused, racking my brain for some kind of method to persuade him.

"Wait a minute… Have you looked at their Aura essences? You can detect any evil energy or whatever, can't you?"

He paused. _Well… yes. I can._

"And their Auras, they didn't hold any evil intentions?"

_Not to my knowledge, _he admitted. _But… even with you… is it some kind of trick…?_

"Give them a chance. Please. If they turn out to be total jerks, then go ahead; have at 'em. But for now, please just… wait until you have a clear reason to attack somebody…?"

…_Fine. I'll let them be… for now._

"Good." I nodded slightly, trying to hold back a huge sigh of relief. "Well… I guess that's… that."

I realized I had just packed up all my things, so I quickly heaved the bag onto my shoulder; the sudden movement caused a can of soup to fall out of my bag, crash to the floor, and roll away.

It stopped at Lucario's feet.

_What is in this canister? _Lucario asked as he picked up the can and looked it over suspiciously.

"Soup..." I supplied lamely.

_What is soup?_

"Food," I answered, just as lamely as before. Then I thought of something. "Are you hungry?"

_Why do you ask such a foolish question?_

"Uh, 'cause I could give you some if you wanted to try it…"

_I do not accept food from humans. _

"Why not? You can watch me make it. I won't mess with it, I promise. Just consider it… an apology for barging into your house."

_I told you I won't eat food touched by human hands. So don't even bother. Just leave now._

"But… I really do feel bad for barging in on you. I want to make it up to you. I mean, if you decide you don't like it, I'll just take it away. I just… want to share it with you."

Lucario said nothing and just watched me, his distrust quite evident.

I gingerly took the can from him and set it down on the counter while I searched the cabinets and cupboards for a can opener.

"Shoot, there's no-"

Lucario suddenly swiped at the can with glowing claws. The top was immediately sliced off.

"Or… I guess… that works too…" I shrugged with nervous laughter.

Lucario, however, was not amused.

After a while of fumbling around in the kitchen and trying not to make much eye contact with Lucario, the soup was finally finished. I managed to pour it (there was no ladle around) into some random bowls I found (I wasn't sure if they were even clean, but I decided I didn't really care at this point). Mainly, I just wanted to prove to Lucario that not everybody is as evil-minded as he might think they are. It really seemed like it had been a while since anyone had done him a favor. And hey, maybe he would really like it.

"Here you go…!" I handed him a spoon, but Lucario just stared at it blankly.

"Uh, never mind…" I set it aside and just pushed the bowl closer to him. "You can just drink out of it, I guess."

_You drink it first._ Lucario said coldly.

"Okay. Fine…" I shrugged and drank it. "See? Nothing happened."

_Now from mine._

"Um, okay..." I did so. "See? Still alive."

Lucario stared at his soup hesitantly. He seemed so confident and assured about everything before that it almost looked a little funny to see him like this. After a few minutes, he slowly took the bowl and drank from it. Once he finished his small sip, he looked up at me expectantly.

"See? I told you that I didn't poison it!" I beamed.

_You are strange. That's what is certain about you. _

"Maybe so, but I can make pretty good soup, right?" I grinned openly, not even bothering to hold it back. "Granted, it was from a can…"

Lucario regarded me for a moment but said nothing more as he went back to drinking his soup. I was starving, so I followed suit. We ate while standing and in absolute silence, but I was too hungry to think of much to talk about anyway. After all the soup was gone, I began to wonder if Lucario knew how to wash dishes at all. Wait. Did alien kangaroos even use dishes? I figured that I should offer to help anyway, but before I could say anything, Lucario spoke up.

_Thank you for this soup. I must admit… I am surprised that you would share food with me. What made you want to do this?_

"Well, like I said before—"

_Don't give me that. A simple apology would suffice for your barging in. There's something more than that, I'm sure. _

"Um, well, I don't know… I guess I just… wanted to. You're pretty mysterious, so… I mostly want to just get to know you a little better… I mean… it would be great if we got to be on friendly terms with each other, since we are going to be neighbors… at least… I think we might be?"

_Do you have a home? _Lucario asked suddenly.

"Uh, no. I guess I have to… find one…"

_You can stay here with me. _

"Uh… what?"

_You set your bag on that bed over there. I don't want that thing, so you can have it. I sleep over here. As long as you don't bother my rest, I don't mind if you rest here too. _

"Uh… Really? You mean it?"

_Yes. Consider it… thanks for sharing a meal with me. And for trying to… patch things up. I know I didn't… make it easy for you._

"Well, thanks…" I replied, surprised. Of all things, I hadn't expected to hear that from him. "Uh, but… you aren't going to… kill me in my sleep or anything… are you?"

_No. _He shook his head, apparently taking the question quite seriously. _Don't bother trying to attack me while I'm asleep either. I told you earlier that you're no threat to me, and you'll only wind up regretting it._

"Uh… sure… I won't…" I could just feel the sweat sliding down my face.

Was this really such a great idea? But what other choice did I have? Could I seriously just suddenly go back to Taro and request a different place? He'd need a good reason, and I was afraid what might happen if I told him the real one…

I watched as Lucario moved to sit against the wall just beyond the kitchen. He just sat there with his eyes closed, seeming completely unconcerned with anything happening around him.

After cleaning up the dishes really quickly (or rather, just setting them into the sink for later), I headed over for the bed and hesitantly sat down on it. It was in the far left corner of the house, and I couldn't see Lucario from here, thanks to the wall surrounding what I supposed was the bathroom. That area was the only separate room in the house.

But seriously… would it really be wise to stay here? I inched along the bed and craned my neck until I was able to see Lucario once more. He was still sitting there, unmoving. Maybe he was already asleep.

I pushed my bag under the bed and curled up beneath the blankets, deciding to sleep in my clothes. I figured I should push my doubts out of my mind for now and worry about other things… like how I was going to explain a talking blue kangaroo named Lucario to Taro and his family…

oOoOoOo

NOTES: Well, I was having a small bout of writer's block for Azelf's Aura, and this just sort of popped into my head.

I actually really like it, and I think I'll continue it. What do you think?


	2. A New Shop?

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of someone pounding loudly on the door.

"Uuugh… What…? What is it…?" I mumbled groggily, rubbing my head to ease the incoming headache. "Who would want to… visit at this… hour…? Ugh… Forget it… They can come back later…"

I started to yank the blankets back over my head, but I quickly snapped out of it… once I finally realized the potential gravity of the situation.

The one knocking on the door had to be Taro.

And if Taro was here, then Lucario was certainly not going to throw out the welcome mat… to put it lightly…

Panicking, I hurriedly threw off the blankets and scurried to the door. As I did so, I looked around wildly for Lucario, but he was nowhere to be seen. After one final scan of the place, I pulled open the door, just as another round of pounding started up.

"G'mornin' Chelsea! T'day I came to teach ya about tools!" Taro declared, no less than one second after I had opened the door.

"Uh, hi, Taro… and Elliot." Surprisingly, I managed to sound relatively polite as I looked around anxiously for Lucario, thinking that he might pop out any second now to attack everyone.

But he really didn't seem to be around...

"Hi, Chelsea," Elliot greeted, waving shyly.

"Chelsea! Did ya notice the tool box I left for you beside the door?" Taro asked and ambled past me, apparently not even giving a second thought about just inviting himself into the house. But then again, I had only just moved in; it wasn't like there was a lot of mess to hide from them anyway.

"Uh, no…" I acknowledged awkwardly. "When did you bring that?"

He laughed. "Actually, I just left it here the other day… since I figgerd that a farmer might move in someday. These were mah old tools, but I don't got much use fer them anymore... But anyways, would ya like me to tell ya 'bout these tools? Or should I have Elliot shew ya how to use 'em?"

"Uh, that's okay. I think I can figure it out myself... Thanks though."

"Oh-uh… Chelsea, there's a b-boat coming up 'round noon today… Maybe you might want to c-come see?" Elliot sputtered out, sounding rather flustered all of a sudden.

"Um, sure… why n-" I turned to Elliot just as I began to complete that response, but the second my eyes met his, his face flushed a deep red.

Um… seriously? Was he really that unused to conversing with people his own age? I mean, it wasn't like he had been living alone on these islands for years or anything like that…

"Uh…" I decided to try my best to ignore it, "so what do you suppose might show up on the boat today? Supplies?"

"Yeah. That! Or! Perhaps some new islanders! The more the merrier!" Taro beamed, showing off that nearly toothless grin.

"Cool... I'll… be sure to come check it out then…" I nodded and smiled, but was careful to not expose any teeth. Honestly, I hadn't really expected anyone to ever come to visit me at all, let alone this early in the morning… Maybe I should keep breath mints next to my bed…

"Yeah… C-c-cool…" Elliot smiled embarrassedly.

"Oh! Um, Taro, I was wondering something…" I admitted, suddenly recalling the strangeness that was last evening. "Um, have you ever noticed any… uh, you know… strange… creatures around here? Like, I don't know… Animals that are really… different and weird… like ones that are weirdly colored? And really smart?"

"Strange animals?" Taro repeated and scratched his chin rather vigorously. "Oh yes! There's plenty o' strange critters 'round here! Any sper-cific one you was wonderin' about?"

"Uh… well… yeah… actually… I was wondering if you've seen any kangaroos around here?"

"Kangaroos?!" Taro loudly echoed, looking like he might fall over from surprise. "Well, no! I hav'n't seen any of _those_ 'round here! No way!"

"W-what? Why d-do you ask?" Apparently just as surprised as his grandfather was, Elliot flinched as his glasses practically fell off his face from the shock of such a strange question. "D-did you see one, Chelsea?"

"Oh no," I laughed nervously and shuffled my feet uncomfortably, hoping I didn't seem too awkward. "It's just… I'm a little… scared… of kangaroos, so I was just… you know… worried that they might have some here…? Yeah… that's… how it is. Yeah."

"W-well, you don't have to worry, there's n-none of them around these parts, t-that's for sure…" Elliot assured me as he cleaned off a smudge on his glasses with his apron.

Yes, that's right. He was wearing an apron as his normal, everyday clothing. How manly and attractive is that?

"Right! Well, see ya then! Work hard, young missy!" Taro practically shouted at me before he began to walk away.

"B-bye Chelsea…" Elliot waved.

"Yes, later!" I gave a single wave and quickly shut the door.

After taking a moment to lean against it and take a deep breath, I took a quick sweeping glance of the house, wondering where on earth Lucario was hiding. But he was still nowhere to be seen.

"Um… Lucario…? Are you… hiding somewhere…? Please tell me you aren't dead or lost or playing some kind of trick on me…"

No answer.

"Please?"

Nothing.

I cautiously approached and knocked on the bathroom door. Maybe he was in there.

After a few seconds of waiting, there was still no answer. I carefully pushed open the door, only to find out that he wasn't in there either. Huh. Maybe that meeting with him last night was all just some kind of crazy dream. Or did I really hit my head so hard that I'd be able to conjure up something as realistic as that Lucario in my own mind?

I shuddered. Having a mind that plays tricks on you like that would be just plain freaky. Maybe I did need to see the doctor after all…

Wait, did they even have a doctor here?

An odd mental image of Taro wielding a stethoscope popped into my mind.

Uh, no… that wouldn't work… At least I hoped it wouldn't…

Shaking my head wildly to get rid of the image, I begrudgingly admitted to myself that it seemed there was nothing I could do about it for now. Crazy or not, I'd have to figure out how to continue to live my life somehow...

So, I carefully closed the bathroom door and began to freshen up for the day. After all that was taken care of, I headed for the kitchen to fix up a quick breakfast. Finding hardly anything besides soup cans and rice in my bag, I decided to munch on my last few slices of bread. I ate them as they were, not wanting to start up the oven just to make a few pieces of toast.

As I finished it up, I found myself staring at the refrigerator. Obviously, I hadn't put anything in there yet. Maybe if there was something in there… it could provide proof that Lucario really did exist; that it all wasn't some sort of dream or mind trick. So I pulled it open to discover that the fridge was empty, save for a few small buckets. Within these buckets were what looked like berries.

Berries?

Lucario had to have put them in here. There was no other explanation. They sure were odd-looking though; I had never really seen berries before that were that large and that blue. They were too big to be blueberries, and too blue to be oranges, so… what were they? I leaned in to sniff them, and they surprisingly smelled more mild than sweet. Which was pretty strange, considering I had expected for berries to be rather sweet tasting…

I sighed. Well, no better way to get it all off my mind than to get to work. I headed over to the tool box and pulled out the hoe, axe, and hammer. Today I was going to prepare the land for planting seeds. It was only the start of spring, and I wanted to get to planting right away to maximize my potential crop output as much as possible. True, I had no idea where I could even buy seeds and whatnot, but I supposed I could always ask Taro about that later. Right now, I just had to get the land cleared. However, the second I stepped foot on the fertile land outside and raised my hoe, I faltered.

Wasn't this technically Lucario's land? Did I even have the right to farm it?

…I wasn't so sure.

After a few minutes of mental debate, I decided to just do it. I doubted Lucario would care; it would mean less work for him to have to do anyway. And not to mention…

I glanced over the land, scanning the area carefully. The whole place was practically covered in weeds, dead tree stumps, and loose stones. It looked like Lucario hadn't done anything with it in years. And this is what I came here to do. If Lucario didn't like it, well… then I supposed I'd have to either work out a deal with him or leave to find work on another farm.

So I set to work, hoeing the land, clearing away any rock rubble with my hammer, and chopping up any spare wood with my axe. It wasn't easy work, but I didn't sign up to do anything easy. After a few hours, I managed to clear up a decent sized plot of land that I supposed would be a fair enough size for me to work with this year.

_Chelsea?_

I practically jumped out of my skin at the sudden 'sound' of a voice in my head. "Whoa! Lucario? You… scared me…!"

_Really? Are you that paranoid? _

"Um... no… I just… I'm just not used to voices in my head, I guess."

_Well, I suppose that's a good thing, _he remarked, looking at me from the corner of his eyes. _It shows that you aren't crazy._

"Yeah… I guess so." I laughed embarrassedly.

_You're been busy… _he remarked suddenly, now standing beside me and observing the ground before us.

"Oh! Yeah, I hope you don't mind…"

_Like I said yesterday, it doesn't matter to me what you do here. Just don't bother me, and everything should be fine._ _So_… he folded his arms over his chest, _if you're planning to grow crops, then why did you decide to leave that stump there in the middle in your little plot? Haven't you got around to using your axe?_

"Uh…" I scratched my head sheepishly, "actually… it's because I couldn't quite chop it up… I'm not very skilled at this, so… you know… I figured I'd just leave it until I've bought some better tools or until I've gotten a little stronger… or something…"

_Where is your axe?_

"Over there. Why?"

Lucario said nothing as he seized the axe and proceeded to chop up that large stump into useable boards of wood.

"Wow; thank you! You're so skilled! Where did you learn to get so good at this?"

_It was… once my job._

"…You were a woodcutter?" I asked, dumbfounded.

_No. I was a slave._

I faltered, unable to think up a response. Was he really? Who would have subjected him to that? Only now was I starting to realize why he had been so harsh to me yesterday… But really? Keeping kangaroos as forced laborers… You'd think I would have heard of that before… Cruelty towards animals wasn't exactly allowed to be swept under the rug anymore… But then again, I had never even known that blue colored kangaroos existed before yesterday… Obviously, something had slipped between the cracks.

But Lucario didn't seem to want to dwell on the matter. _Are you finished with this work now? _

"Uh, n-no… I mean, I-I've still gotta… put away all this wood… I was thinking I could probably use it later for lumber, or something…"

_I'll help you. Then we can go inside and eat something, hmm?_

"Really? Um, yes; I mean, sure thing. Thank you." I nodded, probably longer than was necessary. "I, uh… Yes…"

Still a bit lost in thought, I hesitated for a moment and watched Lucario pick up practically all of the spare wood in one load.

"Ah! Wait a second!" I exclaimed, much louder than I had expected.

Unfortunately, this seemingly random outburst nearly caused Lucario to drop everything he had gathered. Looking frustrated, he tossed it all back to the ground and fixed me with a glare.

"I'm sorry, but I just thought of something! Really important! I mean, of course there _aren't _blue kangaroos! That's…! They must've…!"

_What are you going on about?! Just spit something out already!_

"It all makes sense now!" I continued frantically, still jolted by my own realization. "They _forcibly_ dyed your fur, didn't they? The crazy things people do to make their animals stand out from everyone else's! I mean, really!" I gasped as an even worse possibility took root within my mind. "Oh my…! These spikes! How did they…! _What have they _done_ to you!_"

A slight shove on my arm broke me from my panicked state. _Hey. Listen. I appreciate the outlandish concern, but this _is _my natural state. No one has gone to such absurd lengths to alter my physical appearance… There would be no point in that. _

"Oh."

I had been hoping to make a more intelligent sounding response, but… it was really too late for any of that now. 

_Now are you coming? Or are you just going to stand there and watch me do everything?_

Apparently he had already gathered up his load once again, all while I had been standing there, spacing out. "Oh! ...Y-yes… I'm sorry…!" I quickly shook my head to get rid of those excess thoughts and frantically gathered up the rest.

After that had been taken care of, I followed him inside the house.

"Um, so… where were you all morning anyway?" I wondered aloud. "I was starting to think that meeting with you yesterday was all a dream or something… Oh! Did you go for a walk, maybe? It is a pretty nice day today… I bet it would have been fun."

_I was out. _That was all he said, and I took it he wasn't keen on saying much more.

"Oh. Okay… Well, you want me to fix us something to eat again? Anything in particular that you'd want?"

_Actually, I'd like to share something with you this time._

"Uh…? What…? You're for… real?" I was left feeling a little dumbfounded… once again.

He gave me a rather nasty look. _Here I am offering you a favor, and all you think is that I'm kidding around?_

"No, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" I exclaimed hurriedly. "I just… well, I wasn't expecting for a kangaroo to be able to…"

He seemed to be ignoring me now, heading over to the stove and turning it on.

"What?! How did you-! But you're a kangaroo! How did you figure out how to use the…!"

_Oh, I'm just full of surprises… _Lucario stated blandly as he brushed past me to take out one of his pails from the fridge.

"Okay…" I replied weakly, suddenly realizing that I was just standing there awkwardly. So I moved closer to the counter and watched him as he dumped the contents into a large bowl. "But where did you learn how to cook?"

_My ancestors taught me while I was sleeping… _he told me with the same bored tone.

Was he joking or… being serious?

I honestly couldn't tell by his moderately focused face what he meant by all of that. At the moment, he seemed preoccupied with his work of mashing up the berries. After he was finished crushing them all up, he poured out all the juices, skins, and pulp all together into one big old pot. He set the pot on the stove and let it simmer for a while. He fumbled with the knobs on the oven with a strange sort of expertise, as if he had been doing this little routine for a while now.

_It doesn't need much heat to taste good. _Lucario suddenly informed me.

"Um… what are those berries? I've never seen anything like them before."

_Oran berries. They're my favorite, actually._

"Wow… It's kind of funny… I never really expected that a kangaroo like you would eat berries… I guess I assumed they only eat grass or something…"

He sniffed indignantly. _Grass is for Miltank._

"Miltank?" I repeated. "Who's that?"

He chuckled. _You claim to want to be a rancher and you've never even heard of Miltank… You've much yet to learn._

"…What? So who is it, the ranch dealer? Or is it… What?"

_You'll see eventually… _Lucario shook his head and smirked, as if he were dealing with a silly little child.

I frowned. "Okay..."

_I assume the city must be a rather sheltered place. You don't seem to know much of anything of the outside world._

"I thought I knew things…" I frowned once again, "but obviously, school was even more useless than I thought. I mean, talking blue kangaroos… you think they'd have mentioned that somewhere in a textbook or something… I mean, I did take biology… and I actually passed, _without_ knowing that animals like you even existed."

_Why do you always refer to me as a… 'kangaroo?' I've told you before that I am Lucario. _

"Well, yeah… I know that's your name. But kangaroo is something different. That's like… what you are, I guess…"

_No, you don't understand. I don't have a 'name' like you do. Lucario is what I am. That is my species... so to speak. It's not… 'kangaroo'… I don't even know what that is, to be perfectly honest._

"What? So you're saying that a Lucario is a type of animal?"

_Not an animal. A Pokémon, _he corrected.

"What is a Pokémon?"

Lucario laughed. _You really don't know much of anything…!_

"Hey…! Don't laugh at me!" I cried. Though I had to admit, the sound of his laughter was kind of pleasant. It was better than yelling at me...

Eventually his laughter died down, and we were left in silence, save for the slight bubbling of the pot.

"So… you really don't have a name?" I asked quietly.

_Lucario is fine by me. There are no other Lucario on these islands, so there won't ever be any confusion._

I was about to ask him how that could be true. He had to have parents, at the very least. How could he truly be the only Lucario around? But something about the finality in his tone made me hold my tongue.

_It's ready now. _Lucario announced, breaking the silence.

"So, what do you call this dish, berry stew?" I asked as he poured some into two bowls. Unlike me, he didn't spill a single drop.

_Well, I haven't ever put much thought into naming it… _

"Oh, but you have to! Especially if you're the one who made up the recipe!"

Lucario paused, looking at me with a mixture of confusion and slight surprise on his face. _Well… fine. If you're going to be that insistent about it, I'll call it berry soup._

"Et voilà! It's a brand new recipe!" I couldn't help but smile.

_You're a moron… _But he managed a small smile in return as he handed some to me.

"Um… Thank you. It smells really great…" I informed him before sampling it. "And it tastes even better!"

He didn't reply and lowered his head to begin eating his share. It didn't last long, but I did manage to catch sight of a small smile before it disappeared.

We ate mostly in silence, since it was so tasty that I didn't bother to try to come up with anything to say. I just wanted to eat! Especially after all the work I had finished this morning…

But after I finished, I couldn't help myself anymore. "So Lucario, what are you planning to do for the rest of the day?"

_Meditate, _he responded shortly, fiddling with his now empty bowl.

"Oh. That sounds… enlightening…"

I inwardly cringed. Enlightening? Really? That's all I could come up with?

Apparently unconcerned with any of that, Lucario looked up at me suddenly. _Have you seen all of the islands yet? _

"Um, no, not really... Actually… I haven't even thought about doing any sight-seeing around here yet…" I admitted sheepishly.

_Maybe I could show you around?_

"Oh, I'd love to, but… I already agreed to meet up with Taro and his family on the beach in a few minutes or so… Would you like to come too?"

_No, _he said darkly, his prior friendly expression entirely vanished.

"Um, sorry… I guess I just wanted to let you know about it…"

_How long are you going to see them?_

"I dunno. A few hours maybe, if that…" I shrugged. "Hey… Maybe afterwards you and I could sight-see? I'm sure meeting up with them won't last until dark. We'd still have plenty of time, if you still wanted to."

_Agreed. Once you're finished meeting with them, come back here and let me know. I'll be happier to show you around after all those humans have finished up with all their commotion anyway._

"Okay, I think I've got to… yeah! I need to head off now. I'll see you right after I get back then!"

Trying to make up for lost time, I rushed down to the beach. By the time I approached the fairly tiny dock, Taro and his family were already waiting. I could see the boat was already well on its way as well.

"Hey! There you are! Finally!" Natalie exclaimed.

As soon as I drew close enough, she punched me on the arm, just like the first time we had met. She was way too strong to be doing that so much…

"Hey, everyone… Sorry I'm a little late…" I mumbled as I rubbed my arm.

"Chelsea!" Elliot's face flushed red right away, and he took a small step backward, as if my sudden appearance had completely thrown him for a loop. "Almost thought you m-might not make it…"

"Oh hello, Chelsea!" Felicia, Elliot and Natalie's mother, spoke up, giggling cheerfully. "You look so nice today! You're such a cute girl! Just like Natalie!"

"Ugh… Mom…" Natalie groaned. "_Why_ do you always have to be so-?"

"Quiet!" Taro called out, stamping his cane repeatedly on the ground to silence Natalie's grumblings. "Quit yer silly yappin'! They's a comin'!"

Just then, the boat reached the dock; the first one off the ship was a small boy who bounded right up to our small crowd.

"Hi people!" he cried out jubilantly. "I'm Charlie!"

"Charlie, please…" a man called out calmly as he made his way off the boat. "Oh… my… Hello, everyone. It's nice to see so many people here today…" he said softly, looking a little surprised to see us all just standing around waiting.

"Hallo! The name's Taro! And this here's my fam! And Chelsea too!"

After we had all briefly introduced ourselves, the man opened his mouth to speak, "My name is Chen. I have decided to run a small shop here with my son."

"You're going to run a shop?" Natalie asked excitedly. "Here? Even though it's the middle of nowhere! Thank the Harvest Goddess!"

"Yes, I wanted to escape the pressures of the city and lead a new life here with my son. I have a feeling he'll grow up happy and healthy here."

"No doubt about that!" Taro agreed with a grin. "There's plenty o' room fer the tykes to run about! The both o' yeh are gonna be real happy here; I can feel it in mah trick knee!"

"B-but how are you going to run a shop with no merchandise? The ship only c-comes once a week…" Elliot pointed out.

"Not anymore," Chen smiled. "The captain and I have made an agreement. He's going to come every day now."

"That's wonderful news!" Felicia clapped. "These islands will be bursting with energy before we know it!"

"Um… Are you going to sell any seeds?" I asked, moving a bit closer to this new potential shop owner.

"Of course," Chen turned to me and nodded. "We'll set up shop starting tomorrow, so please feel free to stop by!"

After a little more chatting, we finally got around to showing Chen and his son Charlie to their new place. Judging by the old, decrepit sign resting on the ground before it, the building had once been a shop, so it really seemed to be perfect for the two of them. Inside, just behind the main room, rested a small, yet cozy, living space. They seemed pleased with it, and everyone really seemed rather glad that the island was starting to prosper.

It was only a small step towards posterity, of course, but Taro began saying (over and over again) that having such a shop would surely help pave the way for more and more new residents. This was a prediction that everyone clearly wanted to come true. Well, except for me… in a small way… mainly because I was fairly sure that this news was going to upset Lucario. He had really seemed pretty freaked out yesterday when he thought that Taro was shepherding in loads of people... And now, it kind of seemed like his worries were coming true...

But really, Lucario seemed to be starting to get along with me well enough. I mean, it hadn't taken him all that long to start tolerating me… I think. So why should anyone else be any different? Why should it matter how many people showed up, especially if they all turned out to be honest people looking for a decent living? After all, I thought that so far we were blessed to have rather pleasant and warm-hearted people living around here... Maybe we wouldn't have many troublemakers moving in, and Lucario wouldn't have any need to start freaking out again... Right?

"S-something wrong, Chelsea?"

I looked up from the ground, startled from my own thoughts. "Uh… oh, I'm fine! It's nothing really!" I laughed nervously and hurriedly started to walk away. "I guess I'll just be going now, if that's okay…"

"Now just _where _do you think you're going!" a voice sounded out.

"Huh?" I turned around to see Felicia with a scary, downright evil-looking expression on her face. And, after seeing how she was always perpetually happy up until now, this sudden change was certainly enough to make anybody lose their nerve. What could have possibly… happened to her?

The look on her face instantly changed to one of pure joy exactly one second later. "You haven't stopped by our house for tea yet!"

"O-oh… uh…" I had to take a second to recover from that. "I'm sorry but… I really have to get back to the farm… I have to… get back to work, you know… Um, yeah… that's it…"

"Oh… that's too bad… Well, next time, okay?" Felicia smiled softly, waving.

"Um… sure! Bye... for now!" I waved back and headed off for the farm, suppressing the urge to run far, far away.

As I approached the house, my apprehension towards Elliot's mother finally started to wear off; now I was left feeling eager for Lucario to show me the rest of the islands. From what I had seen so far, everything really seemed very nice, especially the air quality. No graffiti, no random garbage lying about, no filthy or boarded-up windows… Well, there certainly were a few abandoned buildings about, but that mainly seemed to be due to a lack of inhabitants, not a lack of care. Well, I really didn't think there were any gangsters or drug dealers lurking about in the rubble... at the very least…

"Hi, I'm back!" I called out happily as soon as I stepped inside the house.

Looking up from his seat on the floor, Lucario just made a face at me.

Oops... I had forgotten he had said he was going to be meditating while I was away...

"Um! I'm sorry…! I totally forgot you were…! Um! Uh, are you ready to take a look around the islands now, or should I come back later?"

_Sure. Let's go, _he said softly, rising to his feet and stretching lightly. He didn't say anything more, so I couldn't gauge as to whether or not he was still annoyed with me about the interruption.

"Um… I'm sorry…about…"

_I know. You said that already_, he pointed out, heading for the door. _Let's go. _

I followed him until we reached the bridge leading back to town, where Taro's family (and now Chen's as well) lived. Once we reached that boundary, Lucario paused and looked rather hesitant.

_How fast can you run?_

"Uh… I dunno… sort of fast… maybe…?" I answered dumbly, not quite used to answering such a random question so abruptly.

Lucario shifted his wary gaze off of the houses in the distance for a moment to take a look at me. _I see... So you're very slow…_

"Hey! I am _not_ slow!" I insisted.

_Prove it. _Lucario smirked and took off, becoming nothing more than a blur of blue speed.

"What the-? How the heck did he-? W-where'd he go?" I sputtered.

But obviously, no one was going to answer any of these questions, so I just took off running in the direction I believed Lucario had gone off towards. Then I finally noticed him at the other end of the island, waiting for me.

_Extreme Speed comes in handy whenever I need to get past the humans' dwellings, _he told me, stretching again with a small smirk on his face.

"Extreme… Speed?" I repeated blankly. "What is that… some kind of… drug?"

_Do you know how to swim? _Lucario suddenly asked, apparently deciding to ignore my question in favor of gazing down at the ocean below us.

"Uh, yeah… but I'm not jumping into the ocean or anything, okay? I'm not crazy… and that's something someone crazy might want to-"

_It's hardly far at all, _Lucario declared, pointing over at the nearest island. _You should be able to make it with no trouble. I know I've swum much farther than this before. This? It's nothing. _

"Okay… I don't… I don't even…"

_What? You don't even what?_

"I… Well…"

Hesitantly, I looked over the distance between the two landmasses, but I found myself instead staring into the depths of… The water was so… deep…

_Look, it's easy. _Lucario spoke up, sounding frustrated and annoyed._ Here. Let _me_ show you how it's done._

What? Really? Was he just going to dive right in? Like a freaking lunatic? The water was so tumultuous; if there were any sharp rocks jutting up from the depths, no one would be the wiser…

"No! Don't-!"

I hurriedly reached out to grab him, but Lucario ducked away from my grasp before I even had the chance to touch him.

Without another word, he just dived right in, as if it were a swimming pool.

"Lucario!"


	3. Teddy Bears?

Within seconds, Lucario surfaced, looking as relaxed as ever.

"Lucario! What are you _doing_?! How could you just-!"

_What? I'm just swimming... It's the only way to get to the next island._

"Yes, but…"

_But what? _You're_ going to have to swim too, you know. That is, if you still want to explore the place._

"You're… joking…"

_Nope, it's the only way. _He chuckled. _You think you can handle it?_

I swallowed painfully as I gazed back down at the swirling depths of the ocean's waters. Deadly and practically infinite…

_So, are you coming or not? If you don't want to go, just say so!_

I shook my head wildly to push these thoughts out of my mind, "…Um… yeah, I'll do it. Just… wait for me at the other side...!"

I yanked off my rubber boots and tossed them towards the nearby island. No use in getting weighed down by them… Thankfully, they both managed to reach the other island, but thanks to my rather horrible aim, they wound up landing in two totally different spots. One fell right into a cluster of bushes. Just great…

Unlike Lucario, I slowly climbed down to sea-level. By the time I got into the water, he was already waiting for me at the other island… He looked to be tapping his foot in impatience, but I didn't bother to mind him for much longer. I needed to focus on swimming…

I ignored my wildly beating heart and swam as steadily as possible. Like Lucario had said, it really wasn't that far, but I wasn't one for swimming around in deep water… not since that mishap back in high school. Focusing my concentration on the rhythm of my strokes, I tried to ignore the possibility that the ocean floor might be miles below me; I certainly didn't need to panic right about now.

But that wasn't the only challenge. Once I reached my destination, I realized that this island's underside was considerably rocky, and it was quite a bit higher above sea-level than the last one. Trying to climb up these slippery, wet rocks was no small feat. But thankfully, Lucario offered me a hand, which considerably helped out.

"Man, that was a real pain…" I sighed once I finally reached dry land.

Not bothering to respond, Lucario suddenly started to shake himself off like a drenched dog.

"Hey! Stop it!" I exclaimed, holding up my arms in feeble defense. I was soaked enough as it was; I didn't need him making everything worse. "And why did you_ wait_ to do that until Icame over!"

He shrugged with a nonchalant look on his face. _Hey, I figured I needed to be ready in case you started drowning… I could tell by your Aura waves that you were feeling a lot of apprehension out there… And well, with you being a human and whatnot, I'm sure that swimming isn't something you excel in…_

"So… all those Lucarios out there, they just love to swim around then?"

_Not normally. Most Lucario hate swimming and are rather bad at it… _Lucario told me and started to look rather pleased with himself. _But I, on the other hand, have practiced it extensively. In fact, just the other day, I- _

Deciding to ignore him for the time being, I looked around to see that this new island was entirely forested. It was all so green and pure, seemingly untouched both by man and animal alike for countless years. There were flowers blooming seemingly everywhere as an explosive attest to the season. There could be no doubt in anyone's mind that the land was extremely fertile and beautiful… It was as if Mother Nature herself lived in and cared for this island.

I was so absorbed in my surroundings that I had almost forgotten that I was still barefoot. So I quickly retrieved my left boot and started to search around in the bushes for the other one. However, the moment I pulled aside a particularly large leaf, a little white faced creature suddenly popped out and squealed, "Chu-pa-chu-PA!"

I yelped and hurriedly backed away, but Lucario just chuckled. _It's only a Pachirisu… and a weak one, at that. Not that they're all that strong to begin with…_

"Pachirisu? What… is that?"

_Just another kind of Pokémon. Pachirisu are common around here, so if you're scared, you should really try to get over it soon._

"I'm not scared of it!" I protested. "I just… wasn't expecting to see it there."

"Rii?" Pachirisu moved out from the bushes and looked at me curiously.

"Hey there… little guy…" I slowly reached out to pet him and found out that he was very soft to the touch. "Wow, he's kind of… just like a friendly sort of squirrel…"

After I had scratched behind his little ears, Pachirisu suddenly took off into the wild brush. He reappeared a few seconds later with an entire family of Pachirisu. Watching them frolic and play together filled me with a quiet sense of peace... This… certainly wasn't something you'd see in the city. Well, not in my part of town, anyway…

_They must trust you… to come out of hiding like that… _Lucario mused quietly.

"Well, I try not to be too menacing…" I joked.

Lucario, however, was not amused. He brushed past me and started on ahead. _There's much more to see here. We should get going._

"Ah! Wait! But I still haven't found my other-! I _need _to wear shoes!" I cried out, but Lucario just kept on walking on ahead without me. Panicking, I hurriedly scoured the bushes for my missing shoe, quickly pulled it on once it had finally been tracked down, and took off running after my unlikely companion.

"Hey! Lucario! Wait a second! Didn't you hear me earlier? I'm—I've fallen behind! Please, just wait a minute!" I exclaimed as I ran, only breathing a sigh of relief after I had finally caught sight of him. "Why are you-? Are you mad at me or something? Please, just—wait!"

He groaned and halted. _Are you really going to make me stand around all day long?_

"No, I just-!" But before I could even think of an ending to that sentence, I had reached him. "Um… yeah… I'm… caught up… now?"

He grumbled and moved to head back on his way. _Enough games. Let's just go already._

After a fairly long trek through the forest, Lucario and I reached a mountainous path. The trail looked very well-worn, as if plenty of people had been traversing it for a number of years. It was quite the contrast to the forest; the paths there were hardly noticeable at all. If it weren't for Lucario, I would have surely gotten lost. But this place…

"Um…"

Throughout the entire walk through the woods, Lucario hadn't spoken a word to me, so I felt a bit nervous to break such a long silence.

…_What?_

"Well… I was wondering… do a lot of Pokémon come through here?"

_A lot of Pokémon live here, so… yes. _

"Really? I don't see any…"

Just then, a large rock… scuttled across our path.

"W-what…!" I gasped, backpedaling so frantically that I nearly fell over backwards. "What the-! That boulder-! It—it _moved_!"

_That's not a boulder. _Lucario replied, sounding exasperated. _It's a Rhyhorn…_

"A… Rhyhorn…?"

_Yes, it's a Pokémon. A Rock type Pokémon. Well, a Rock and Ground type, actually…_

"It's… huge…" I swallowed, taking another step backwards.

_Uh, not really… He's way shorter than I am... and he hasn't even evolved yet either…_

The Rhyhorn chose that moment to turn his head, and then I was able to see his comparatively tiny eyes. He didn't seem angry, just confused. This was quite the relief, since I surely wouldn't want to see this guy suddenly deciding he wanted to go on a rampage or something like that…

"Is he… as easily angered as you are…?" I asked Lucario, still unable to ease my nerves, even though the Rhyhorn wasn't bothering to even look at us anymore.

He slapped a paw to his face. _No. And even if he was, my Aura Sphere would knock him out in about two seconds. There's nothing to worry about. _

"Are you… sure?"

_Yes. Now hurry up. Let's get out of here. _

And he started to move on, walking right past the Rhyhorn as if that massive rock monster were nothing more than a bunny rabbit frolicking in the fields.

"Lucario…! Wait!"

I figured it might be best to try to run past Rhyhorn, but… it seemed my feet wanted to stay rooted to the spot. "I… But I… can't… Maybe we should just… turn around?"

After reaching a certain point, Lucario turned around, and upon seeing me hanging back, looked irritated once again. _What are you doing? Aren't you coming?_

Just then, Rhyhorn yawned. But the sound, however, was a lot louder and more intimidating than I had expected, which caused me to… frantically retreat.

_You-! You're such a moron! _

Just as soon as I reached the edge of the forest, something caught my arm, so I quickly whirled around. But it was only Lucario. He obviously wasn't happy though.

_Are you going to be afraid of _every _Pokémon we meet? Honestly! How are you going to react if we come upon a Pokémon who actually is dangerous? _

"You mean… there are Pokémon who are… even scarier than that Rhyhorn…?"

_Of course there are! _Lucario barked back, causing me to flinch.

Suddenly looking very exhausted, the blue kangaroo held his head in his paws and let out a sigh. _Listen. I know that Rhyhorn might have seemed intimidating, but he actually couldn't be any more docile. Bottom line, you probably shouldn't judge someone just based on their looks alone… Take yourself, for example. Being a human, you _seem _like you have a good head on your shoulders, but it turns out that you _actually_ don't. _

"Okay…" I said weakly, feeling miserable. 

Surprisingly, I felt a paw pat my shoulder a few times. _Now come on. I really want for you to see the top of this mountain. There's a wonderful view up there; you'll be able to see all of the islands from there._

"Really?" I looked up from the ground to face him, and he nodded. "That sounds nice, actually…"

_Yes, it's worth braving a silly Rhyhorn, especially one that isn't even in a bad mood. Now, are you ready?_

"I think so…"

Upon re-approaching Rhyhorn, I felt my nerves kick right back in again. Rhyhorn himself didn't seem to care about us, choosing to nibble on the ground without even looking over in our direction.

"What is… he _doing_? It looks like… Is he _eating _rocks?"

_Yes… he's probably hungry. _Lucario shrugged, unconcerned.

"He _eats _rocks?!"

_Yeah, that's what I said..._

"Do _you _eat rocks?"

_No! _he exclaimed, irritated. _Now what are you just standing there for? Are you coming along? Or not?_

Anxious again, I tentatively took a step forward.

Lucario seemed to take that as acceptance and moved several paces ahead before turning back. _What is it now? Why are you still… taking forever?_

"It's just…" I faltered, embarrassed by my own fear, "what if he… attacks me? Or even just turns around suddenly and accidentally smashes into me?"

He sighed, retracing his steps yet again. Once he reached me, he held out his arm, which I found myself staring at with confusion. _That won't happen. That Rhyhorn isn't as accident-prone as he might look._

"How do you know that?" I mumbled, still gazing at his outstretched arm until it dawned on me. Was he… holding out his hand for me to take?

_It's the Aura waves. They tell me a lot more than you might think, _he explained, reaching closer and taking my hand. _You're worrying over nothing. As I've_ just_ told you… again and again._

"I'm sorry…" I followed after him, feeling both miserable and incredibly nervous.

_Don't be sorry. Just walk._

We passed Rhyhorn without so much as a twitch from the rock-eater. But it wasn't until he was out of sight that I finally felt relieved. At that point, Lucario immediately released my hand, almost as if he could tell that. My paranoia must have been even more obvious than I had hoped… Or was it… the Aura again?

"Thanks…"

_Hmm? _He turned to me, apparently confused. _For what?_

"For… not getting… cross with me."

_Heh. _He smirked and moved on ahead. _You don't make it easy, you know…_

"I'm sorry…"

_That wasn't meant to be taken seriously…_

"Oh. I'm sorry… I didn't quite… realize you were only…"

He looked back at me momentarily, only to shake his head. _Oh, and by the way, there's another-_

Before he could finish that statement, a flying rock floated into view.

"Aah!" I shrieked once again, backpedaling so quickly that I fell over, straight onto my rear. "That rock-! It's—It's… _flying_!"

…_Pokémon nearby. _Lucario finished, knocking a paw to his face. _Don't worry. It's just a Geodude. They can be fairly friendly. _

"But what if—what if this one isn't!"

At that moment, Geodude took notice of the two of us, and waved a muscular, yet rocky, arm in greeting. His grin couldn't have been wider.

_He _is_ friendly. See? _Lucario's patience seemed to be drawing thin. _Why do you always think every Pokémon out there is ready to kill you?_

"Well, if I remember correctly …" I said quietly, finally taking my eyes off Geodude to face Lucario, "_you _tried to kill me when I first met you."

_That was different, _he responded wearily. _You invaded my house. Of course I was going to take action. Besides, I wasn't going to _kill _you, just knock you out. But even that was only if I deemed you hostile._

"You could say we're invading Rhyhorn and Geodude's houses right now…"

_They're used to others showing up here! Besides, we _aren't_ hostile; it's _obvious _we're no threat to them! And not to mention… _His posture stiffened slightly, and his tone seemed to take on a more serious note. …_our first encounter happened in the evening. At that time of day, all of the friendly faces disappear._ _They are, more often than not, replaced with those who aren't… so warm and accepting._

"What do you… mean?"

_It's nothing. Just… I don't know! Forget about it! Now come on! Let's just go already!_

I stared at him, entirely confused and quite a bit unsettled. What he had just said… what was that supposed to mean?

By now, Geodude had given up on trying to get one of us to wave back at him. With a sigh, he threw a large boulder onto his back and floated away.

_There. Looks like the moron has finally left. So now we can get moving again… Right? _

"The… moron? I thought you said he was friendly…?"

_That's what makes him a moron, _Lucario responded matter-of-factly.

"Um…?"

oOoOoOo

We seemed pretty high up and far along when Lucario suddenly stopped and pointed out a cave in the distance. _That cave over there leads to the mines._

"Really? I didn't know they had mines here…" I mused as I held my hand over my eyes to block out the sun. "Who built them?"

Lucario let out grumble of disgust. _The former inhabitants… The humans who robbed these islands of everything and anything they could get their hands on._

"Oh," I said awkwardly. Maybe I shouldn't have asked…

_At any rate, _he let out a sigh, _I wouldn't suggest mining until you've found some better tools and are… quite a bit stronger than you are now._

"W-wait a second!" I exclaimed, feeling a little frantic. "Who said I was going to go mining?"

_Nobody did. But I figured, being the naturally greedy human that you are, you'd want to give it a try someday._

"Well… Maybe someday…"

_Greed… _Lucario gave me a nasty look. _…is a foul enemy. Don't give in to such filthy desires. Or you might just wind up risking your life for it._

"Okay. Um… Are you… speaking from experience?"

He glared at me. It was so intense I nearly gave in to the impulse to shrink away. But instead of answering my question, he turned and walked onwards. After a moment's hesitation, I followed after him. Not much later, we reached our destination.

_It's a clear day, so you should be able to see all of the islands from here…_

"Wow…" The view took my breath away. Lucario was right; I could see all of the Sunshine Islands from here…

From what I could tell, the farthest island from here looked like a sort of dense jungle. The trees there were thick and dense, nearly as much as the forested area we had just visited. Directly south of that, there was another island that looked it had been mostly cleared of trees, and it appeared to be dotted with abandoned buildings just like the island that Taro and the others lived on. Beside that island laid another covered in a sort of grassy meadow. Even from this height, I could see creatures, most likely Pokémon, here and there frolicking around.

I was also surprised to see a small island directly north of the island holding the farm and our home. The ground there looked very damp, and I wondered if I might be able to grow rice there someday. Between all of these islands the sea sparkled warmly in the late afternoon sun. Such a beautiful place to call home…

Beside me, I could hear Lucario take in a deep breath. Even from up here, you could still smell a faint hint of salty sea air. It was definitely a change from all the smog and dust I'd smell in the city...

"Do you come up here often?"

_Now and then… It puts things into perspective, doesn't it?_

"I think so."

_All those irritations… even major disappointments… start to become less painful when you look at the big picture… the grand scale of things…_

"Yeah…"I regarded him quietly, at a bit of a loss for words. I wished I could think of something more poignant to say, but… I really had nothing. To me, the experience kind of felt like… sensory overload. I could hardly absorb the magnificence of the surroundings, much less put the experience into words.

oOoOoOo

"Wow… Look at all these mushrooms…!"

_Planning to sell them? _Lucario folded his arms over his chest and smirked. _I knew it wouldn't take long for the greed of the human to reveal itself…_

"I won't take that many…" I said sheepishly, gathering quite a few and placing them in my bag. "But I will need money for seeds, and these will definitely help me out…"

_Well, I couldn't care less anyway, _Lucario grunted and headed over towards a grassy patch beneath the trees, stretching his arms back behind his head.

"…Uh? Where are you going?"

_Just over here. Feel like resting for a bit. _

With that said, Lucario laid back in the grass, quickly looking perfectly relaxed and content. The grass was wild, so it was rather long and uneven, hiding him completely in some places while exposing him to the sun in others. The sun's rays were intermittent, shining down through the gaps in the shelter provided by the leaves above, causing soft and ever-swaying patches of sunshine to dance down on him.

Resting… Perfectly at ease with the surroundings… Safe and content…

"Oh. Yeah… That does sound nice." I finally replied.

I sat down nearby, noticing Lucario pluck a blade of grass from the ground and passively begin to chew on it, all without opening his eyes. It was at this point that I became aware of the calls of Pokémon. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't see a single moving creature… The gentle wind was rustling the trees and brush, causing several illusions of Pokémon sightings, but when I looked long enough, I knew it was only my imagination.

_You can relax too, you know… _

I turned to discover that a single eye was staring at me.

Lucario closed that eye with a smirk on his face. _What's wrong? Never heard of relaxing before?_

It was at this point that I realized I had been sitting there with my back rigidly straight. I slouched slightly, hoping to look the part a bit better.

He snickered. _That's not it! Don't you know how to relax? Lay back._

"Uh… sure…" I reluctantly did so. It felt very strange; I hadn't laid down in grass since I was a little kid… Back then, my hometown had been much… safer. 

_Close your eyes. _

"…Why?"

_Just do it. It's high time you learned such things! Relaxation is _essential_ for _anyone's _well-being!_

"Well… okay…?"

I felt incredibly stupid, but I did as he asked. I could expressly feel the sun's warmth on my face, swaying back and forth, back and forth.

_Now, breathe. _

All of a sudden, I noticed that the air was scented with pine needles and moss. Leaves… undergrowth… earth… It wasn't an altogether unpleasant smell, but I was not used to it. I began to wonder what might have happened if I had done this in the city… Would I smell gravel? Exhaust? Paint? Sweat? Tears…?

A sudden rush of noise. It sounded like a Pokémon was bounding through the trees above me. I squeezed my eyes shut and threw up my arms, bracing myself for the inevitable attack.

Plop. Plop.

Instead of fangs, I felt the odd sensation of something small and comparatively soft hitting my skin.

"What the…?" I looked up to see a grinning Lucario in the trees above and a bunch of berries at my feet. "Are you… throwing crap at me?"

_Nope. _He opened his palm and a few more berries plopped down on my head. _Just letting gravity do its work..._

"Yeah…" I raised an eyebrow, "and that just makes it perfectly acceptable, doesn't it?"

_Well, of course it does! I'm hungry, so I have to get food somehow. _And with that said, he seized the trunk and shook it, causing even more berries to fall.

"What the-!" I ran for cover, seeking shelter several feet away.

Once satisfied, Lucario hopped down from the tree, surprisingly landing quite gracefully.

"…Why…?"

_What? _

"Why do that?"

He shrugged. _I can't be held responsible for my actions when I'm this hungry…_

"Right…"

He started scurrying about, this way and that, picking up all the fallen berries. _Here_. He hurriedly held out his hands and dropped a bunch of them into mine.

"Oh. Uh… Thank you." I was a bit surprised by the amount he had given me. "Didn't expect a Lucario this hungry to be so generous…"

_Yeah, I'm kind of amazing like that._

Shaking my head, I retook my place in the grass and munched on the berries. They were blue in color, just like the Oran ones Lucario had shown me before. "Hey… do you think I could grow some of these berries? You know, back at the farm?"

_I don't see why not. Throw a few in the ground and see what happens._

"I think I will."

oOoOoOo

_ There's only one more thing you just have to see here…_

Lucario stopped in front of a large pond. It looked amazingly pure and beautiful, glistening in the waning light. Definitely no pond scum or bottom feeders here. I could see straight down to the bottom, even though the pond seemed fairly deep.

"Um… what's up? You want to go fishing?" I asked, confused. "I sure hope not, since there sure doesn't seem to be anything in this pond… I mean, it's beautiful and all, but… there's nothing here."

_I wouldn't bet on that… _Lucario smirked as he pulled up a small flower nearby and tossed it into the pond.

The moment the flower landed in the water, it disappeared in a flash of bluish-green light. In its place appeared a tall and beautiful woman in flowing, silvery garb. Her green hair swirled about her as she smiled, hovering just above the water.

I gaped and stared. Well… I certainly wasn't expecting that. What was this lady, some kind of fairy woman? What kind of lady just appears out of thin air?! And she can… fly too?

"Lucario! I've missed you!" The woman beamed. "Thank you for your kind offering! But you really need to visit more often! It's been too long!"

_You're right. I apologize. _Lucario nodded to her but seemed to be keeping his eyes on me for some reason.

The woman turned to face me and smiled. "I see you've already made friends with Chelsea! How nice!"

"Aack…" I gawked, barely able to even speak. "She even… knows my name…!"

The green-haired lady clapped her hand to her mouth in surprise. "Oh my! I didn't realize! You can see me!"

"Well… yeah… you're right there, right?" I looked to Lucario, suddenly fearful for my own sanity. "I mean… You… you see her too, right?"

"You must really have a love for the land…" the lady smiled again.

_So_… _I guess you really weren't lying all this time… _Lucario folded his arms, nodding.

"…What…?"

"Please. Let me explain." The woman smiled softly. "I am the Harvest Goddess. I watch over the Sunshine Islands. Not everyone is able to see me… Only those who truly hold this land in a very special place in their heart! I suppose you could call yourselves the Chosen Ones!" she cried, giggling.

"Chosen to do what… exactly?" I asked weakly.

"Oh, keep dreaming, honey; you aren't anything special…" someone cried out.

"Witch Princess! What are _you_ doing here!" the Harvest Goddess exclaimed, looking concerned.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I came here on a stroll. Is that a crime?"

"Did she just say… she's a… a _witch_…?" I whispered to Lucario, frantically hoping that that wasn't the case at all.

He nodded grimly.

Before I could even think to panic, the witch walked right up to me. She actually looked rather normal looking, aside from the raggedy clothing and red eyes. Her hair was beautiful, so long, curly, and blonde. I actually would have considered her to be very pretty if she didn't have such a creepy look in her eye.

"Who's this, Lucario? She your new Trainer?" she asked sharply.

_Hardly, _he scoffed.

"Uh-what is-?"

"Too bad… You need a Trainer. Maybe she'd teach you some respect…"

Lucario just growled at her, refusing to make eye contact. _Keep talking, and our deal's off._

"Temper, temper," the witch said lightly. Then she turned back to me again. "…Wow. Now that I look at you, it seems you're actually kind of cute-looking. You'd make a nice teddy bear, you know. If you aren't of any use to anyone, you might as well become the newest addition to my-"

_Don't even think about it. _Lucario stepped in front of me defensively.

"Oh, calm down, Lucario. You don't want me to turn you into a frog now, do you?" The witch smiled at him, her creepy red eyes twinkling playfully.

"Stop being so mean to them, Witch Princess! Why do you always have to be so naughty?" the Harvest Goddess exclaimed, wagging her finger at the witch.

"I can be as naughty as I want! _You _certainly can't stop me!" the witch princess declared defiantly.

"Ah! You cretin!" the Harvest Goddess gasped.

Lucario nudged my arm. _The two of them could argue until the end of time… They're both immortal, so… their arguments can literally go on forever. We better get out of here…_

"Yeah… great idea…" I nodded and slowly started to edge away, just as the Witch Princess began to make faces at the Harvest Goddess.

_Oh no! What do you know! I left the stove on! The house is likely on fire now! Good-bye, Harvest Goddess! We have to go and put out the fire! _Lucario exclaimed, waving his arms around wildly for emphasis.

I had to shove my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. He had such... terrible acting skills.

"Of course, of course. Toodles, Lucario," the Harvest Goddess hurriedly waved him off so that she could get right back to her vicious onslaught. "If _you_ turn _me_ into a frog, then _I'll _turn all _your _precious teddy bears into _slugs_!"

"I _knew _it!" the Witch Princess shrieked. "I always _KNEW_ you were jealous of my teddy bear collection!"

_Okay! Now run! _Lucario dashed ahead, with me struggling to keep up.

Thankfully, it didn't take us too long to get back to the area in which we had first arrived, and once we did, I finally felt safe enough to speak. "Teddy bears…?"

_To make a long story short… the Witch Princess is crazy._

"Makes sense to me."

I pulled off my bag and held it over my head, wondering if I could manage to chuck it far enough to reach the next island. Boots were one thing, but a backpack was another entirely. It wasn't very heavy, but I really didn't want to miss and make it fall into the water. That would surely ruin the mushrooms I had gathered…

But before I could ponder it for too long, Lucario just took it out of my hands and threw it himself. It landed perfectly beside the scruffy little bushes. Of course… what couldn't he do?

"Thanks…" I muttered as I began to pull off my boots again. Lucario said nothing and dove into the water, ready to make his way back to the island. I tossed my boots to the other side, once again managing to get them to land in two completely different areas. I carefully climbed down and swam over slowly, much like last time.

Once I finally reached the other side, Lucario was already waiting. He picked up my bag and made to hand it over when he suddenly spoke up. _I'll just take it back myself. You mind?_

"Yeah, go ahead. Thanks," I nodded and started to look around for my boots.

Lucario took off in a blur of blue speed.

Eventually, I found my boots and decided to just walk back home, since I wasn't in any hurry. On my way back, I bumped into Natalie and Elliot. Apparently, they were both strolling around just outside their house for some reason.

"Chelsea?" Natalie stared at me, raising an eyebrow. "You're… completely soaked…? Why?"

"Oh… Yeah…" I laughed sheepishly. "I decided to go for a swim…?"

Elliot's eyes had widened at the sight of me. Then, all of a sudden, he threw his hands over his nose and ran away.

What? Did I smell bad or something…?

Natalie chortled. "What's the problem, Elliot? Got a nosebleed?"

But Elliot didn't reply and hurriedly ran inside the house.

"Nosebleed?" I repeated. Why would he suddenly get a nosebleed? It's not like it was dry weather or anything. It was actually a little humid today.

"Never mind, Chelsea…" Natalie shook her head. "You really don't what to know."

"Uh… Okay. See you around…"

"See ya!" Natalie waved. "And next time you decide to take a swim, you should probably wear a swimsuit, huh? Just don't let Elliot see ya, or he'll try and ask you out!"

Eww…


	4. Tea?

Spring 3

Time for Tea?

I awoke the next morning to the sound of someone knocking on the door. I quickly rolled out of bed to go answer it… even though what I really wanted to do was roll over, fall back asleep, and forget all about it.

"Yo…?" I greeted my visitor weakly as I rubbed my eyes.

"G'mornin' Chelsea!" Taro exclaimed with a definitive tap of his cane to the ground, "Today I'm here to teach you how to plant seeds!"

"Great…" I mumbled. I was only startled out of my grogginess once Taro promptly dropped a few bags of seeds in my hands.

"I even got ya a couple bags o' seeds ta get ya started!"

"Wow… Thanks!"

"Don' mention it!" Taro beamed his characteristic grin, "Now come on outside, and I'll show ya how ta plant them!"

"Oh, that's okay; you don't need to do that," I assured him, "I think I know how to plant them. Thank you for the offer, though."

"You sure?" Taro asked as he raised a grizzled old eyebrow.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Well then, work hard, young missy!" Taro called out as he turned to leave.

"Bye!"

I scarcely had time to close the door before I realized someone else was approaching up the path. I blinked; this person was unbelievably bulky and totally unfamiliar. I just waited at my doorstep for him to introduce himself.

""Lo!" He waved a massive arm in greeting, "The name's Gannon. I'm a carpenter," he said as he scanned the buildings on my ranch, "I could fix up these build'ngs for ya sometime once you earn enough gold."

"Oh really? Sounds great!" I beamed, "Oh yeah, my name's Chelsea by the way…"

"Nice to meet ya, ma'am. I need to get back to work, so I'll be seeing you then…"

"See you!" I waved and finally got to go back inside and freshen up. Lucario wasn't around again, so I just took my time getting ready for the day. Today I planned to plant seeds and make sure that they all got watered. After that… well… I had no idea.

By the time I opened the door to go outside and get started, I was surprised to see Elliot and Natalie standing there on my doorstep.

Natalie laughed, "We were just about to knock!"

"Hey guys! Man… I'm getting a _lot _of visitors today!" I laughed as well.

"Gramps already come by?" Natalie asked with a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah…"

"Thought so. Eh, I guess old people don't really have to sleep very long… considering he gets up at four every morning. You know, he tries to come to your house even earlier than he already does, but I manage to hold him off for a while."

"Well, thanks for that… So far, his coming over is the only reason why I've been waking up this early every morning…I can hardly imagine getting up even earlier…" I admitted.

"Try living with him…" Natalie rolled her eyes, "Granted, he's not as bad as Elliot…"

"Hey!" Elliot flushed red at the insult.

"It's okay though; I probably need to wake up earlier anyway," I said quickly.

"Come on, Elliot!" Natalie was too busy getting a rise out of Elliot to even hear anything I had to say, "Can't you think up anything better than that? Squealing 'hey' like a little girl isn't going to get you anywhere in life," she jeered.

"Uh, so what'd you guys need anyway? Something up?" I asked in a louder tone, realizing that I needed to change the subject before their argument could go on any further.

"Oh yeah! Gramps wanted us to pick up the shipment from yesterday… Did you have anything you wanted to sell?" Natalie asked.

"Um, yeah. I had some mushrooms that I put in that bin over there…" I explained as I shut the door to the house and made to head over to it, "…Right over here."

"How'd you know to put it here in the shipping bin?" Natalie asked, "I didn't think Gramps had told you about it yet."

"Oh! Uh? Lucky guess?" I supplied sheepishly. Lucario had been the one to tell me about it yesterday, in fact.

"Wow! H-how'd you f-find s-such rare mushrooms?" Elliot asked as he pulled open the shipping bin, "I've n-never s-seen them before…"

"Uh… I got lucky…?" I shrugged. Geez, I was going to have to think of a better excuse than that sometime soon.

"Well, aren't you Lady Luck?" Natalie said cheekily. I just laughed stupidly in response.

"Oh…! C-chelsea! Grandpa w-wanted me to remind you that w-we'll be p-p-picking up your shipments every d-day starting at f-five o'clock t-tomorrow. We were going t-to yesterday, but w-we got a little hung up w-what with h-helping out C-c-chen all d-day…"

"Oh, okay. That's fine by me," I nodded.

"So that's why we came by earlytoday," Natalie explained, "Oh yeah, and Mom wanted to invite you to tea today. You wanna come?"

"Sure! That sounds great!"

"G-good! W-we'll s-s-see you at two?" Elliot beamed.

"Cool. See you then!" I nodded.

"Later Chels. Have fun farming," Natalie waved and walked away to leave Elliot carrying all the mushrooms by himself.

"B-bye Chelsea!" Elliot smiled.

"Bye; see you soon," I waved.

After all that was over with, I got to work planting the seeds Taro gave me. After careful debate, I decided to plant my Oran berry seeds off in the back corner of the farm. I was a little afraid of Taro or any of the others coming over and asking questions about them.

Then I got to wondering; why did I keep Lucario and everything related to him a secret from everybody? I supposed I was just a little afraid as to how they'd react. But honestly, how long would I be able to keep it all a secret? They'd probably find out eventually, and then they'd just get miffed at me for not saying anything. I didn't like lying either. I wasn't good at it, and frankly, I just hated doing it.

Eh, I'd debate it later. Right now I needed to head off to town to buy some more seeds. Apparently, all the seeds that Taro had given me were turnips, so I figured I'd do well to plant a more diverse variety to supplement it.

So I headed off for Chen's shop to purchase some more seeds. When I walked inside, I was surprised by how quickly the two had moved in all their furniture. They had even given the place an exotic flair… it was obvious that Chen certainly knew how to decorate. I, on the other hand, was lucky that Lucario had already done all of that before I had arrived. I certainly didn't have any sense in regards to feng shui or whatever it was called.

"Good morning, Chelsea," Chen greeted softly, "It's nice to see you. I assume you're looking for seeds?"

"That's right!" I grinned, "…Oh, hi Charlie! I almost didn't see you there!"

"Hi lady!" Charlie smiled brightly from his seat behind the counter at his father's side, "Do you need any help today?"

"Other than the seeds, I think I just need to browse a little bit for some ingredients for dinner maybe…" I mused, "Thanks for asking, Charlie; you must be a great help to your father!"

"Daaaad!" Charlie whined, "You forgot to tell her what I can do!"

"Oh yes, that's right," Chen chuckled softly, "Charlie here can help you with your tools. He can place Wonderfuls on them to better their use."

"Uh…? Wonderfuls…?" I repeated blankly.

"Wonderfuls are just that! Wonderful! They can do all sorts of things. It all depends on their colors!" Charlie beamed.

"You'll understand them better once you receive some and test them out," Chen explained with a soft smile, "But for now, I'd suggest that you not worry about it. It'll probably be some time before I start to offer Wonderfuls for sale here."

"You could get one if you win a Festival though!" Charlie piped up.

"We'll need a few more villagers before we can start to hold festivals in this town," Chen reminded his son, "…Now, would you like these seeds, Chelsea?"

After I bought seeds and few other groceries, I headed back home. I kind of wound up spending nearly all of my funds, but I figured I'd get most of it back once my crops started to grow. Hopefully. But even if I didn't, at least I wouldn't go hungry. I knew I could probably live off of Oran berries for the rest of my life if I had to… Or maybe I was being just a little too overdramatic…

"Hey you're back already," I noticed as I came inside and saw Lucario sitting on the floor.

_Hello, _he greeted and opened an eye, _What do you have there? _he asked curiously as he got up to take a look.

"Just a bunch of groceries," I shrugged as I set the bags down and began to sort through them, "And seeds too."

_What are… groceries?_

"Bags of food."

…_Why did you bring food?_

"I figured it'd be nice if we stocked up the fridge with something other than Oran berries," I explained with a shrug.

I set all the seeds aside from the rest of the bags so that I could focus on putting away the food. I was surprised when I looked up from that to see Lucario digging around in the bags, looking over and sniffing all the items inside like a curious animal.

"Whoa, stop it!" I cried and tried to push him away, "Quit messing with that food! You're gonna get your germs all over everything!" Seriously, I didn't know of the last time he washed off his paws…

But Lucario was hardly paying attention to what I had to say. He held up a bar of chocolate, _What is this? It smells very nice._

"That's chocolate. You want to try some?" I asked as I took it back to open it for him. Hopefully this would get his mind off the other food so that I could put it away.

…_Where did you get this chocolate? And all the rest of this food, for that matter?_

"I bought it from Chen," I shrugged as I broke off a piece of chocolate, "You want to try it?" I asked as I held it out.

Lucario backed away, _You brought all this from the humans? …You should not accept gifts from them. Especially not their food. _

"Oh, come on, Lucario," I rolled my eyes, "Just think about it for a second: even if Chen were the evil, diabolical villain you think he is, why would he try to poison one of his very few customers? How would he make any money if he killed me with tainted food? I wouldn't be able to come back and buy more! But even that's beside the point because he's _not _evil; he's a nice man! So there is _nothing _wrong with _any _of this food!"

_That's exactly what they want you to think… _Lucario countered weakly.

I said nothing and took a massive bite of the chocolate, "…See? Look, I'm alive!"

Lucario huffed angrily.

"Oh come on," I coaxed with a small laugh, "Seriously. Just try this piece before it melts in my hand…!"

_Fine…_ Lucario grunted, took the piece, and ate it.

"Well…? What do you think?"

_It's… actually… quite good…_

"I knew you'd like it," I giggled. Seriously, who _doesn't_ like chocolate? "Here; you can have the rest."

_Thank you… _Lucario could hardly suppress his smile as I handed him the last of it.

After I put away everything, I made myself a quick lunch before heading out to plant the rest of my seeds. After the chocolate was gone, Lucario started to meditate, so I just decided not to bother him.

It didn't take me too long to plant everything, but it did take me quite a while to finish all the watering. It was well past noon by the time I finished it all, and I was feeling hot and tired. So I decided to go inside and shower before heading off to see Natalie and the others for tea. I figured it wouldn't be such a great idea to visit them while I was covered in dirt.

After I emerged from the bathroom, I decided to let my hair dry on its own for a while before I attempted to do anything with it. In all honesty, I usually preferred to just tie it back a little with my bandanna and then let it do whatever it wanted. But this time, I figured I should at least attempt to look nice for this thoughtful get-together. Then again… I didn't really want to give Elliot any ideas… Ugh, whatever. I'd just dress normally.

_Did you finish all your work? _Lucario asked suddenly.

"Yeah. But I'm going to have meet with Natalie and her family for tea later."

_What's tea?_

"A drink," I shrugged, "But mostly, it's about meeting up to chat and to get to know each other… stuff like that…

_So you drink and talk… That is ridiculous. What a waste of time._

"Hey! It was nice of them to invite me!" I said defensively, "…By the way… I was wondering… do you mind if I… tell them about… you?"

Lucario shot up on his feet, _You… better… not… tell… them… ANYthing…!_

"Whoa! Calm down!" I held up my hands as a clear sign of surrender, "I was only _asking_! All you had to say was no! You don't have to freak out!"

Lucario just huffed again and sat back down.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Geez. He was crazy. Just one simple question was enough to set him off. And yet, here I was, lying through my teeth to people who probably wouldn't make half-bad friends, just because he wanted me to.

…Maybe it was a stupid idea on my part to go through all this just to make friends with someone who most likely was going to hate me forever just because I was human. He had a right to be angry because humans had enslaved him who knows how long ago. But _I_ hadn't done anything to him. So why the heck did I have to deal with his attitude? Just because I was a human? That was the only connection between me and the freaks that wronged him. It wasn't anything I could help. So why did I have to make up for it?

I huffed quietly and got up to brush out my hair. I let my annoyed and angered thoughts flood my mind as I brushed out all the ragged knots in my hair. I was so absorbed in my mood that I gasped and practically jumped out of my skin when I suddenly noticed Lucario standing there at the bathroom door. Dang, he was quiet. I hadn't even heard him get up.

"What do you want?"

_Your aura… Is something wrong…?_

"Wow, I'm surprised you even noticed."

Lucario blinked, obviously surprised at my sudden coldness.

"Yeah, you're not the only one who knows how to be cold."

_I did something wrong, I take it?_

"Yes! Yes, you did!" I raged, "Now that you would even know that since the only feelings you're ever concerned about are your own!"

_All you're doing is exposing your complete ignorance. You have __no idea__ who I am. _Lucario said coldly.

"Maybe not, but based off of the things I've seen from you, I have no reason to think otherwise!" I snapped.

_What things have you seen? Humor me._

I grabbed my hair in frustration, "I don't know why I even try making peace with you! You're such a-"

_You're NOT making peace! You're doing the exact opposite!_

"Oh yeah? Then explain why I'm going to lie to everyone about you living here! I hate lying, but I'm doing it for you! And all I ever get in return is your nasty attitude!"

_Nasty… attitude…?_

I sighed, "I hate when people yell at me like that… It makes me feel like I'm… inadequate… Not to mention… you actually kind of scare me sometimes…"

Lucario looked a little taken aback by my sudden sincerity. It took him a few moments to respond.

_I… I apologize… I suppose I didn't… I didn't quite think of it in that way… I assumed that this was how humans communicate with each other… Anger was the only emotion my master expressed to me… Perhaps… perhaps I was trying to take that superior role before you could take it from me…_

"Superior role?" I questioned, "You honestly think I would boss you around?"

_You're a strange human. I don't quite know what to expect from you… But in previous dealings with humans, that is what I've come to learn…_

_Not to mention, I didn't think I was asking that much of you… I thought it was second nature for a human to lie and cover things up from others…_

"Not for me," I shook my head with a small smile, "I hate lying. Not everyone is the same. Human and… Pokémon… alike."

_Perhaps you're right… _Lucario smiled a little as well, _But at any rate… I think I've come up with a solution. If you agree not to tell the humans about me, I will work on my anger. Agreed?_

"Okay. Agreed," I nodded, but then I glanced over at the clock, "Aah! I'm late!" I exclaimed as I hurriedly tied up my red bandanna round my head, "See you later, Lucario! I have to get going!"

_Good-bye. Try not to fall asleep out of boredom…_

"And you try not to 'set fire' to the house," I smirked, "See you soon!"

I ran over to Taro's house and then slowed down at the last minute so that I could pretend like I had just strolled in casually. But it honestly didn't matter since their door was closed anyway.

"Ah, Chelsea!" Taro answered the door shortly after I knocked, "Good ta see ya!"

"Hi Taro!" I smiled, "I'm sorry I'm a little late."

"Never mind that," Taro shook it off, "Felicia still hasn't finished the tea anyway. So I'd say yer righ' on time. Come on in."

"Thanks," I smiled as I followed Taro into the kitchen.

Natalie was setting the table, "There you are, Chelsea! Elliot's been waitin' for you to come all day, you know! He kept askin' about you every three seconds!" she said with a smirk.

"Hi Natalie…" I just decided to pretend like I didn't hear that last bit.

"Well I'll be!" Taro suddenly exclaimed rather loudly.

"What is it _this _time, Gramps?" Natalie rolled her eyes.

"It's goin' ta be a clear day t'morrow! I can feel it in my trick knee!" Taro cried and even popped his knee around for emphasis.

"Gramps, please!" Natalie groaned, "Chelsea doesn't want to see the crazy things you can make your knee do! Nobody does!"

"Aww…" Taro frowned, completely unable to hide his disappointment.

"You r-really should l-listen to him, though… He gives out g-g-great w-weather predictions…" Elliot piped up as he entered the kitchen.

"S-s-sometimes…" Elliot added meekly when he caught sight of Natalie's death glare.

"Oh come now, my dears!" Felicia's cheery voice sang out as she approached the table with a pretty teapot in hand, "Now's not the time to argue! We've _company _over!"

She turned to me with her permanent smile on her face, "I'm so glad you could join us today, Chelsea! It's so delightful to have you over! And look at you; you look so pretty today!" she gushed ever so happily.

Pretty? I looked down at myself in disbelief. Honestly, I looked exactly the same as I do every day… Loose jean shorts paired with a regular yellow t-shirt and an orange blouse. I looked ready for a day in the fields rather than for a tea party, but maybe she found that adorable somehow…?

Well, none of them had dressed up any different from their regular wear either, so I didn't feel too put out about it, "Thanks for inviting me! I'm glad to be here!"

"Well, come on over and take your seats, everyone! The tea's ready!" Felicia sang.

Luckily for me, I got to sit beside Natalie, but I was across from Elliot…

"Help yourself to some scones, Chelsea!" Felicia smiled warmly.

"Uh, thanks," I replied as I took a little plate of unknown cake-ish things. I'd never heard of scones before, to be honest. Well, actually, I'd never even had tea before… I wasn't British.

I tried one though, and it actually tasted really good. The tea was great too. I didn't really know what kind it was, but it tasted pretty good.

"So Chelsea?" Felicia spoke up, "You must feel so lonely living all by yourself… Does it bother you much?"

"Oh no," I said quickly, "I… uh… I've pretty much been living alone ever since I turned eighteen, so… I guess I'm used to it…?"

"Oh… you poor thing…" Felicia's smile disappeared, but she still didn't open her eyes, "We should get together more often, so you don't get lonely…"

"Oh, that's okay… Really… I'm fine… Um! Not that I don't want to get together!" I added quickly with a dumb sounding laugh. Geez… I was so pathetic…

"Hey! I know!" Natalie piped up, "When's your birthday, Chelsea? That'll give us a good reason to get together and celebrate!"

"Uh… It's the twentieth…" I supplied, "But we don't have to do anything for it, really…"

"Nonsense!" Taro exclaimed, "We can't have you celebrating your birthday all by yourself!"

"And plus… Gramps can't give up a chance to get drunk…Your birthday party would be the perfect excuse…" Natalie whispered to me.

"No really! I don't want to burden you guys…! You've already been so kind…!" I cried as I tried my best to ignore Natalie's comment.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all!" Felicia was back to smiling brightly again, "It's the least we can do! After all, it's your efforts that are going to revitalize the islands!"

"Revitalize the islands?" I was going to argue a little further, but she caught me completely off-guard by that last statement, "You really think I could actually do that?"

"O' course we do, Chelsea!" Taro declared, "Ye've got spirit! And a backbone built strong enough to get things done!"

"But enough of that sugary sentimentality!" Natalie waved her hand with a devilish look in her eye, "Let's get right to the good stuff! Do ya got a boyfriend, Chelsea? Did ya ever hook up with one of them city boys? I'm sure Elliot's dying to know!"

Elliot started choking on his tea.

"Git 'er down, sonny! That's it!" Taro encouraged as he slapped his grandson's back.

"Uh…" I began after Elliot stopped coughing and sputtering, "I… uh, haven't had a boyfriend in a few years, I guess… I mean, I had a few before, but it never really lasted all that long…" I responded with my eyes lowered. I could feel my face flush. I couldn't believe I was saying this right now…

"Oh," Natalie said simply, "Then there's hope for you yet, Elliot."

Elliot had another choking fit. Only this time, he choked on his scone.

"That is, if he lasts through tea…" Natalie added smugly.

"….?"

The rest of the time I spent with Taro and his family went nice enough, but I really wished I could forget about Natalie's irritating comments. To be perfectly frank, I didn't like Elliot at all, and I didn't want to be teased about him even if it was just her attempt to be funny. It wasn't that I had anything against Elliot; he just wasn't my type. And I preferred to leave it at that.

"Well, thank you for coming, Chelsea!" Felicia beamed.

"Thanks for having me!" I smiled back, "Do need any help cleaning up or anything?"

"Oh nonsense, dear! You're awfully sweet, but you're still my guest! Natalie and I can handle it!"

"Elliot! Your back's still young!" Taro declared suddenly, "Why don't you walk Chelsea back to her house?"

"No! Don't!" I suddenly exclaimed aloud without even thinking. I knew that if I brought someone home, Lucario would probably freak out. And when he freaks, there's no telling how badly he might lash out. I couldn't get past my mental images of Lucario sweeping the floor with Elliot's face. …Honestly, I didn't think it'd be such a great idea if they accidently met each other.

But obviously, Taro and the others didn't know about that, and they all stared at me like I was insane.

"Er… Uh, I meant… I'm totally fine on my own… ha… ha…?" I explained stupidly and tried to cover my previous outburst with obviously nervous laughter. Wow, I was totally blowing it…

"Right… Well, I'll walk Chelsea home!" Natalie beamed. Clearly, she did not want to help her mother clean up.

Well, actually, if Lucario wound up lashing out at someone, I figured the only one on this island tough and brave enough to handle it would be Natalie. She didn't look very tough, but I could really see her giving Lucario a run for his money… Seriously.

"Well, you don't have to… but if you insist…" I pretended to debate about it for a minute before giving in a little too promptly.

"Well, good-bye, Chelsea! Be sure to stop by anytime! I don't want you feeling lonely now!" Felicia cooed as she waved.

"Keep workin' hard young missy!" Taro nodded to me.

"B-bye… Chelsea…" Elliot mumbled.

"Bye, everyone! And thank you for a nice time," I waved.


	5. Fishing is Dangerous?

Spring 3 

Fishing is Dangerous?

"So, do you really get lonely living all on your own?" Natalie asked as we headed back to my farm.

"No…"

"I kind of wish I had your life…" Natalie mused, "I get tired of Elliot being an idiot all day and dealing with my family all the time. It must be nice to have some peace and quiet and to live by your own rules."

"Umm… Sort of…" I trailed off. If only she knew…

We didn't say much more until we reached the ranch.

"Well," I began once we reached my door, "I'd offer to let you inside for a few minutes, but my place is a total… mess… so… I guess this is good-bye…"

"Until tomorrow," Natalie grinned.

"Until then," I smiled back. I waited until she had gone over the bridge leading back to town before I opened up the door. And the second I did, I was face-to-face with Lucario, "Wagh! What the heck were you just standin' right at the door for?" I exclaimed loudly since I had almost crashed right into him.

He just smirked, _Hello._

Apparently, he was trying to mimic my overly enthusiastic greetings or something, "Hi… So why were you standing at the door?"

_I sensed that you brought a human back. I hid here until I felt her aura signature leave the area. Then I knew it was only a matter of time before you stepped in._

"…So you stand right at the door? What's with that?"

_Well, I suppose I am not quite certain how humans greet each other… And it seems as though every time I attempt to greet you I startle you… So I decided to just greet you like a member of my own kind. _

"Well, that's nice of you, I guess…" I scratched my head to mask my confusion, "Uh, except I'm not a Lucario, so I didn't know you were there. You know I can't sense auras and stuff… So maybe next time you might want to back away a bit… you know, just so I don't crash into you or anything."

Lucario backed up.

"Um, thanks?" I shrugged as I walked inside. Who knew Lucario could be so awkward?

_Were you bored out of your mind while drinking tea with the humans?_

"Maybe a little…" I answered with a small smile, "But they really are nice people. I think you might like them..."

Lucario just grumbled in annoyance.

"Well then, what did _you_ do that was so much fun while I was gone?"

_I sprinted the length of this farm about fifty times._

"Right…" I wasn't sure whether to believe that or not, "So now what…? Hey, I know! I can try fishing!"

_Fish… ing?_

"Yeah… Just come watch and you'll get the idea I guess…" I shrugged before running over to my toolbox to get the rod that Taro had given me.

We headed off to the edge of the island to get a clear view of the ocean, "Here will be perfect! I bet there's _tons_ of fish here," I said hungrily. Fish dishes were definitely one of my favorite foods.

_Whatever you say… _Lucario looked unconvinced, _I've never heard of 'fish' before, but I'm certain that there __aren't__ any here_.

"Oh, you'll eat your words in about ten seconds after I catch a tasty fish!" I grinned broadly as I cast my line.

Lucario let out a noise somewhere between a snort and a laugh, _Humans really can't stand to listen to reason… _

"Yeah, just go ahead and be that way!" I frowned at him, "Because when I cook up my delicious fish, you are going to have to just stand there and listen to your stomach growl 'cause I'm not giving you any! You're going to be _so _sorry you said that!"

Lucario laid out on the ground and made himself comfortable like he was about to watch an epic movie, _I'm going to enjoy this. _

"You jerk!" I was about to unleash my wrath, but I became distracted by a sudden tug on the line, "Ah! I've got one!"

_You're serious? _Lucario sat up with disbelief written all over his face.

"You bet!" I smirked as I reeled it in. Surprisingly enough, the fish didn't tug back too much in return. But it wasn't entirely lax, so I knew it couldn't be a piece of garbage on the line, "Here it comes!" I exclaimed as I made the last tug. To my utter surprise, the fish on my line was some kind of ugly red carp of some sort… He didn't look tasty at all! Just scales and bones!

"Wha-? What the-?" I sputtered as I beheld the freaky creature on my line, "What the heck IS this thing?"

_Magikarp… _Lucario answered, _Don't bother eating him; he won't taste good at all. _

"Uh…? Seriously…?" I balked as I stared at the gaping carp thing.

"Karp… karp… karp…" the Magikarp breathed as it gaped and wriggled around stupidly.

"Blast it!" I growled as I threw the stupid thing back to sea, "I might as well have hooked a piece of garbage!"

After my little rant was over with, I sighed and glanced at my now useless fishing rod. No more tasty fish dinners…

"Well… time to go home, I guess… You were right… My fishing rod is totally useless…"

_Hmm… Maybe not entirely… _

"Huh?"

_Perhaps you can use it to enlist the aid of a water Pokémon… You do need help watering the fields, correct? If you hook another one, I could-_

"Water Pokémon? What the heck is that?"

Lucario sighed, _A water Pokémon has the ability to conjure up water based moves. These moves would be quite helpful for you… unless you like spending all day watering the fields…_

"Uh… not so much…" I admitted as I recalled how long it took me to do all the watering today.

Lucario looked back up at me, _As I was saying before, if you could catch a water Pokémon, perhaps I could ask if it would be interested in helping you out with that chore… _

"Wow, that sounds great!" I smiled happily and flashed him a thumps up, "I like your thinking!"

_ But you will have to find something of equal value that you can give to them in return for the favor… _Lucario added sharply.

"Of course…" I nodded quickly, "Just tell me what they want, and I'll try and work something out so everything's fair."

"Okay! So here we go…" I sounded out before casting my line once again. I was glad my fishing rod still had some use, but… I still wished for some sashimi or something… Too bad…

I had scarcely thrown the line into the water before I felt another tug on the line, "Ah! I've got one!"

_Already? _Lucario peered at the water oddly, _How is that even possible?_

"Hey, I don't know, but I'm not gonna question it!" I shrugged, but quickly snapped back to attention before long…

Suddenly, the line gave an extremely sharp tug, so sharp that I nearly fell right into the ocean, "Oh man! It's so strong!" I planted my feet firmly to the ground and reeled that line like my life depended on it, "… How the heck can a freaking fish get so blasted strong-! It's going to break my rod!" And at that, the line tugged back, so hard that I nearly lost my balance once again. Lucario moved in to help after he realized this fish seemed to have the power to drag me into right into the ocean. With his help, it was considerably easier, but I knew this one wasn't going down without a fight.

_Almost… there…! _Lucario cried and suddenly gave a powerful yank. The momentum from such a abrupt jolt practically knocked me off my feet… and I was on his side!

Needless to say, the Pokémon on the other end of the line was finally revealed… and it did not look too happy to see us…

It looked like a giant and ferocious blue dragon… or a snake… I wasn't too certain which one since I was little distracted by the loud roar it shrieked in pure rage.

_It's… a Gyarados….! And he is __not__ pleased to see us_…

"I think that's an understatement…" I added quickly as the beast known as Gyarados started thrashing and shrieking. Some kind of purple energy was accumulating around him...

_RUN CHELSEA! _Lucario suddenly barked at me, _He's using Dragon Rage! We need to get OUT of here now!_

I quickly threw my rod aside and ran for my life. I had no idea what 'Dragon Rage' was exactly, but I didn't need to; that thing was large enough to eat me, and that was more than enough explanation for me. However, once I got to running, I started to panic as I began to wonder where on earth I was supposed to run to… I doubted my house would be safe enough to protect me from a monster that huge and deadly… And I didn't think it'd be wise to lead him to town… It certainly wasn't much safer there, and I didn't want anyone else to get hurt…

_Hurry up! _Lucario ordered. It sounded like he was directly behind me, but I wasn't going to risk slowing down to turn around and find out.

"I'm _trying_!" I cried as I willed my legs to go faster. But it really wasn't much use; I was running as fast as I could already…

_Look out! _Lucario suddenly called out, and I felt a shove from behind. It was far too unexpected for me to have any hope of recovering my balance, so I pretty much fell flat on my face.

Literally a second after I fell to the ground, I heard a loud crash. I looked up to see that the side of the house had been charred and battered. What the heck happened? Was that… Gyarados?

_Stay down! _Lucario ordered sharply. Apparently, he was the one who shoved me. Normally, I'd be a little miffed, but actually this time, I think he had just saved my life.

I stared as Lucario formed some kind of bluish blast in between his paws. Honestly, I began to question whether I was dreaming or not. This sort of thing didn't look very… realistic… Maybe I had knocked my head a little too hard when I fell, and I was now seeing things…

Before I could think about it too long, Lucario hurled this orb of energy (or whatever it was) at Gyarados who was sort of hovering above Lucario as though he was swimming around in midair. After being hit squarely by this attack, Gyarados roared. I gulped; it looked as though all Lucario had really managed to do with that attack was just enrage the monster further.

I watched as Gyarados' tail began to somehow accumulate a great mass of water which swirled around him ominously. All of a sudden, Gyarados lunged at Lucario and swung his water-covered tail at him. Luckily, Lucario managed to jump out of the way just in time so that Gyarados' tail slammed into the ground instead into him.

In response, Lucario charged up another blue colored blast, but before he had the chance to fire, Gyarados shot out a shimmering blast of his own from his mouth. He was far too close for Lucario to have much of a chance to dodge, but Lucario abandoned his own energy orb and still tried to sidestep out of the way. I didn't know if he succeeded or not because the blast was quite close to me; all my focus went toward covering my head and praying that I wouldn't get hit.

When I finally looked up, I saw that Lucario must have been hit, judging by the way he was cradling his arm. For some reason, Gyarados wasn't moving in for another attack… He was just hovering there with a blank sort of look on his face. He vaguely reminded me of the gaping Magikarp…

"… Are you okay, Lucario?" I asked rather tentatively. It looked like the fight might be over, so I figured that now was the time to ask. Hopefully, they had both decided that fighting was pointless and only resulted in everyone getting hurt.

At the sound of my voice, Gyarados suddenly focused his gaze directly on me. He let out another piercing shriek, and I knew then that I had made a huge mistake by reminding him of my presence. As I stared into his gaping mouth, I saw another blast forming in the back of his throat. The same blast that had torn apart half the siding of the house and Lucario's arm. I was too frightened to even produce a scream.

But before the blast could make it past the sea beast's mouth, Lucario leaped into the air and slammed Gyarados' mouth shut by knocking him on the top of the head with a shining staff of some sort. Gyarados choked on his own blast, and he let out a strange kind of hiccup sound. Honestly, it might have been a little funny if I wasn't scared out of my mind…

Lucario landed nearby, and his staff had already disappeared. He immediately began to charge another blue orb attack. Gyarados thrashed around and starting screeching, obviously angry that his own blast had given him the mouth ache of a lifetime.

Lucario hurled his blast before Gyarados had the chance to recover. The moment the blast hit, Gyarados slumped forward, and fell to the ground in a heap.

_Are you hurt, Chelsea? _

"I'm fine… thanks to you…" I said gratefully, "Um… but… is Gyarados… dead?"

_No. He fainted. That's all._

"Oh… okay…Um, are you okay, Lucario?"

_I'm fine. Just help me move him into the water._

"… You mean like, push him into the sea? But how's he gonna… you know… breathe?"

_Gyarados can breathe underwater. He'll be fine. I just believe it would be best if he didn't awaken here… Most likely, he'll just want to fight again…_

"Why do you suppose he… wanted to attack us anyway?" I wondered as I cautiously walked over to the giant sea beast to help Lucario move him back into the water.

_I have a theory… _Lucario looked at me plainly, _I take it that this Gyarados may have been related to that Magikarp you so savagely threw back into the water earlier. Most Pokémon don't take kindly to their brethren being thrown around like a piece of garbage._

"Oh… Sorry. But…" I stared down at the frightening set of teeth before me, "How on earth would a Gyarados be… _related _to a Magikarp?"

_Magikarp evolve into Gyarados. It seems unlikely, but it's the truth._

"What do you mean, evolve?"

_It's a long story… _

I figured it wasn't worth pursuing any further, so I didn't question it and just helped Lucario push the Gyarados back into the water. After he floated back down into the depths of the ocean, I figured it probably wasn't the best idea to ever go fishing again unless Lucario was around. As I looked over the damage Gyarados inflicted on the poor house, I was certain of it. That battered and broken siding could have just as easily have been me. Or even Lucario for that matter…

I glanced over at him and noticed that he was licking his injured arm like a wounded dog, "Oh no; you're hurt! …Why did you say you were fine when you aren't?"

_I __am__ fine. _Lucario insisted.

"No, you aren't; that wound looks pretty deep... C'mon inside, and I'll patch it up for you."

_You would… do that…? _Lucario looked really confused for some reason.

"Of course. C'mon!"

I went back inside the house and paused before the bathroom sink since Lucario was taking forever. I finally looked up to see that Lucario was just standing around nearby, and he was still licking his arm, "Hey, cut it out. You don't want all that dirt and blood in your _mouth _now,do you? Now, come on over here so I can wash it up for you."

Lucario said nothing and just eyed me tentatively.

"Come on. Just trust me. I'll be careful, I promise. Okay?"

_Fine… _Lucario muttered and thrust his arm toward the sink.

Now that I could finally see it up close, I could see that the wound truly was as deep as I had thought. Lucario's skin had been torn away in several places, and it was bleeding pretty badly. There were even bits of dirt and partially dried blood clinging to his fur; it was all a bloody, furry, and dirty mess.

I bit my lip thoughtfully as I reached for the soap. Was I supposed to clean the wound first or stop the blood? I really couldn't remember, so I just decided to go with my instincts.

I ran the water tap and directed Lucario to hold his hand underneath it for a while. Hopefully, that might accomplish both problems. Or maybe that was what you were supposed to do for a burn, and I was just getting everything all mixed up…

"Oh! Um, do you have some kind of blood disease or anything…?" I asked quickly since I had only just now remembered. I really didn't want to be touching his blood with my bare hands if he did.

_No. My master would have disposed of me if I had any sort of disease_, Lucario said simply.

I honestly didn't know what to say to that, so I just fumbled with the soap and mumbled something inaudible.

At any rate, after Lucario's arm had been sufficiently rinsed, I set to work cleaning up his wound with soap. It was a lot harder than I had initially imagined since Lucario was so furry. All the dirt and dried blood kept sticking to him.

"…Thank you for saving me from Gyarados," I said sincerely while Lucario rinsed his wound free of the soap, "I mean, if it weren't for you, I'd have probably been his dinner…"

_Don't thank me_, Lucario said as I dried off his arm with a towel, _It's the duty of the strong to protect those that can't defend themselves…_

"Whoa, hang on; I'm not finished yet," I had to point out quickly since he was ready to just run away after his arm was dry. I then dug around in the cabinet for that bottle of antiseptic that I had brought with me when I had first arrived.

… _I wouldn't expect you to know much about that code of ethics…_ Lucario continued,_ Or do the humans that you know live by such a code?_

"Well, some do and some don't," I acknowledged.

_Do you? _Lucario rounded on me suddenly.

"Yes," I replied calmly, "Now seriously, quit with the freaking out already. There's no need to get all worked up like that; you're just going to bleed more… So now, _where_ is my-? Oh, here it is."

_What is that_? Lucario asked nervously.

"It's just some antiseptic. It's used to clean wounds, and it'll help you heal faster too," I explained.

_Oh. Am I supposed to drink it? Or…?_

"No, I just need to pour some of it on your wound. It… stings really badly, but it'll be over in a second, so just brace yourself…"

And with that, I quickly splashed it onto the wound. Lucario hissed and jerked away, so I was glad that I had been quick and thorough. The only downside was that I had splashed it all over the floor as well.

_That doesn't help at all_! Lucario snarled, _I should have known you'd-!_

"I _told_ you that it hurts at first! But really, Lucario… my mom would spray my cuts with that when I was a _little_ girl, so I'm sure you can handle it…"

Lucario just growled and made to stalk off.

"Get back here; I'm still not finished…" I pointed out again before searching for the gauze.

Lucario returned, only to back away when he saw the gauze in my hands, _What are you going to do with __that_?

"Wrap up your wound so that the bleeding will stop. This'll protect it and keep it from getting dirty too. I mean, I'm not just doing all this to annoy you, you know… I want to make sure that you don't get infected or anything."

_I don't need that, _Lucario said quickly, and I could see that he looked genuinely afraid now.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I promised, "Really, I only want to help."

_Why…?_

"Why? … Uh… Because…" I faltered, unable to think up a response to such a strange question, "I mean, you're just supposed to help people that are injured… Isn't it second nature?"

_I'm not a person, _Lucario countered quickly.

"So?" I shrugged. Did it really matter?

Lucario just stared.

I waved the gauze to refocus his attention, "So… will you let me help you or not?"

… _Yes, _Lucario said finally.

I waited for him to fully approach and hold out his arm before I set back to work. He was still bleeding so I held some cotton over the wound and held it firmly. It took a few blood-soaked cotton bits before the bleeding finally seemed to stop. Then I carefully began to wind up the bandages around his arm. Lucario tensed, obviously nervous once again. I made certain to be as gentle and careful as possible so as not to make things worse.

"There! You should be as good as n-!" Before I could even finish my sentence, Lucario was gone. I shrugged and then just started to clean up and wash my hands. Trying to figure out Lucario was getting to be too hard.

When I stepped back out of the bathroom, I noticed Lucario sitting on the ground testing out the limits of the bandages on his movements. Then he started sniffing it like a curious little animal.

"So… you like your new arm…?" I asked awkwardly.

_What? _Lucario looked alarmed.

"Uh… never mind…"

Lucario was suddenly on his feet, _Someone is heading this way!_

"Huh? Really? Who?"

_Two humans, _Lucario answered, _I have to-!_

"Hey, hold on! They're probably just coming to see me! No need to do anything hasty, okay? I'll handle it. You just stay here."

_Don't let them inside!_

"I won't. Just relax, and I'll handle it."

I hurried outside to see Natalie and Elliot heading over the bridge. What were they doing here? Didn't I just see them a couple hours ago? What would they need now? Oh, that's right. They were probably here to pick up the shipment. Only… I hadn't even shipped anything today…

"Hi Chelsea! We're here to pick up your shipment!" Natalie announced.

"Sorry, guys, but I didn't have anything to ship today… Sorry about that, I probably should have told you when I saw you earlier…"

"Eh, whatever," Natalie waved it off, "We also need you to pick out a name for your ranch! We've been so busy lately that we completely forgot to remind you!"

"A name…?" I said thoughtfully.

Elliot stood beside Natalie without saying much of anything. But then, I noticed his eyes practically bulging out of his head, "Waagh! Chelsea! W-what happened to your house?"

"Oh. Yeah. That," I said awkwardly as we all stared at the battered siding, "Um, you see… I went fishing…and…"

"You went fishing!" Natalie exclaimed, "Aw crap! We should've warned you not to do that!"

"H-how… H-how did you… H-how did you survive without a scratch?" Elliot was now staring at me with wide eyes.

"Um… this other Pokémon came and… fought it…?" I supplied.

"What kind of Pokémon are we talking about here?" Natalie asked.

"It was… two big blue snake dragon things…"

"Gyarados," Natalie and Elliot stared at each other in horror.

"Yeah… um… there were two of them and…they fought and I… hid in the house…" I sure hoped they'd believe this stuff…

"Where are they now?" Natalie asked.

"Gone… in the water, I guess…"

"Oh," Natalie shivered, "Scary stuff. I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah… I'm fine now."

"So… d-did you s-still want to n-name your farm…? W-we could c-come back tomorrow if you're n-not feeling up to it…"

"No, that's okay. I think I've already thought of the perfect name!"

"Really? Then spit it out already!" Natalie grinned.

"Chaotix!" I said proudly.

"Chaotix?" Natalie repeated blankly, "What exactly is chaotic about _this _place? There's nothing here but you and your crops."

No one said anything for several seconds. A lonely breeze blew by, and I suddenly became cognizant of how empty the rather large island seemed.

"She c-can name it w-whatever she wants. It's h-her choice," Elliot finally spoke up in my defense.

"Whatever. You want me to paint the sign?" Natalie shrugged.

"Natalie has r-really good h-handwriting," Elliot explained.

"Um, sure. Why not?"

Natalie walked up to the empty sign beside the bridge leading to the ranch and painted "Chaotix Ranch" in very neat letters.

"You _are_ good," I acknowledged.

"Yeah, I can pretty much do everything better than Elliot!" Natalie smirked. Elliot's posture just sagged in response.

"Well, I think we'd better get back home. See you later, Chels!" Natalie nodded to me as she picked up her paint and thrust it into Elliot's arms. That way, all she had to carry was the brush.

"See you tomorrow," I waved. After the two had left, I admired my new sign and pondered the new name of my ranch. It might not make sense to some people, but the whole reason why I had decided to be a farmer was because I wanted a simpler and more calming life with work that would truly keep me busy. But honestly, my life here was turning out to be much more complex and chaotic than I had ever imagined. In spite of all this, there was something about this life that I liked. Maybe I really could make it work here.

oOoOoOo

Notes: Man, it's a lot harder than I thought to describe a Pokémon battle from a noob's perspective. But it is a nice breath of fresh air to not have to write about someone shouting out orders every three seconds...

Oh yeah, I decided to hold off on the whole Natalie seeing Lucario idea. I know a few of you were looking forward to that, but there'll be plenty of time for Natalie vs. Lucario action in later chapters… (Yes, I'm not kidding) But the main reason is: I really don't want Lucario to be revealed to the others so early on in the story.

Anyway, I have to say that updates will most likely be really slow for a while. You can thank my diabolical French history prof for that. I think her joy in life is to give out insane amounts of homework. Having such a heavy load combined with all the usual things I have to do is really tiring me out, and I'm finding less and less time to write. This story will most likely suffer the most since the chapters are so long.

Just wanted to let everyone know. Thanks for reading.


	6. Animals are Pokemon?

Spring 4

Animals are Pokémon?

Not surprisingly, I awoke the next morning to the sound of someone knocking. I reluctantly threw off my blankets and stumbled over to the door to answer it.

"Good mornin' Chelsea!" Taro beamed, "Today I'm here to teach you about the shipping bin!"

"Oh, that's fine, Taro. You don't need to… I already know about it…"

"Really?" Taro said with interest, "Then if that's the case, keep up the good work, young lass!"

"Thank you. I will. See you… tomorrow, I suppose…" I waved as he turned to leave. I was about to shut the door when I noticed two unfamiliar people heading up the bridge. Much like with Gannon's arrival yesterday, I decided to wait at the door for them to approach. Even more villagers already? This place was turning out to be busier than I thought… Lucario certainly wasn't going to be happy…

"Hi! My name's Julia!" the young woman around my age beamed as soon as she approached. She was really pretty; her honey blonde hair framed her face with wavy curls.

"I'm Mirabelle," the woman beside Julia smiled warmly. She was a short and plump woman with a very kind face, "My daughter and I have decided to set up an animal shop! We'll be able to sell you feed and animals!"

"Really?" I grinned happily. This was great; I was hoping to be able to raise farm animals soon!

"Of course," Mirabelle smiled again, "But we're only just starting to set up shop today, so it might be awhile before we can sell anything…"

"So you're the rancher that we've heard about, right?" Julia asked.

"Oh, right!" I answered with a sheepish laugh, "My name is Chelsea, by the way… I probably should have said that earlier!"

"Oh, that's fine," Julia smiled, "I can already tell that you're going to be a regular customer! Maybe you'd like to stop by our farm later and see the animals? Mom and I could give you some tips on raising them if you want."

"Really? That sounds great! Thank you!"

"Oh, you're welcome," Mirabelle nodded, "We'll be waiting for you after you finish with your chores around the farm. But for now, if you would excuse us, Chelsea, Julia and I have a lot of work ahead of us setting up the shop."

"Sure thing. See you later then."

"Bye Chelsea! See you!" Julia waved.

After they had left, I went back inside to get ready for the day ahead. Once I was finished with that, I went out to water the fields like usual. It took me a several seconds to realize that nearly all of the tree stumps that had been cluttering the fertile land had been cleared away. Well, that was weird… How could that have happened? Well, I figured there was no use in wasting time trying to figure it out. Time to get to work…

A few hours later, I had nearly finished with my watering when I noticed Lucario heading over. I vaguely wondered where he went every morning, but I supposed it wasn't really any of my business anyway.

"Hi Lucario! How are things?"

_My arm is already feeling much better_, he informed me with a pleased look on his face, _Thank you for tending to it so well. Normally, my wounds take a few days to stop bleeding whenever I train… But today everything went very well._

"You were training?" I repeated uneasily, "Shouldn't you be taking it easy?"

_I know what I'm doing, _Lucario said darkly.

"Yeah, okay… I guess I was just worried is all…"

Lucario merely gave me a strange look. Then he seemed to shrug it off …_Are you finished with the watering?_

"Nope. Not yet…" I replied sheepishly, "Um, anyway, did you notice that almost all the stumps somehow disappeared? What's with that? Do you think a beaver came through here?"

_ That was my doing. _

"What? Really? When'd you do that?"

_Yesterday. While you were drinking tea._

"Ha, I _knew _you didn't run fifty laps!"

_Right… Well, at any rate, I wanted to make certain that we have enough wood for winter. It gets cold in the house around that time of year..._

"Yeah, I bet… Well, anyway, thanks!"

_You're… thanking me?_

"Well, yeah… You saved me from a whole lot of wood chopping. It would have taken me forever to do all that! If it weren't for you, I'd've probably froze to death this winter!" I smiled congenially as I reached over to scratch his ears.

Lucario immediately tensed at my touch. But after I had scratched him for a bit, he seemed to melt under my hand. He actually started to make a sort of deep and rumbling purring sound.

"Geez, Lucario," I giggled, "I didn't know you were such a bunny rabbit!"

He didn't answer and merely continued to hum happily. After I stopped, Lucario looked at me with confusion, _Why are you so different from other humans? _

"Uh… what? What do you mean?"

_Are you just trying to trick me? _Lucario continued, _Trying to fool me into believing that humans have hearts?_

"No," I frowned, "Why would I want to trick you? I came here to farm, not play mind-games with kangaroos."

Lucario merely shrugged and sighed in defeat, _Well… I suppose I'll leave you to it then. Let me know when you're finished._

I nodded and turned back to my work while Lucario ran off somewhere else. After a while, I watered the last round of crops and then paused to wipe the sweat from my brow. The sun was already high in the sky, and it was actually quite hot today. And it was only spring… I could only imagine how much fun summer will be… Well, at least the crops were thriving.

At any rate, I dumped the last of the water back into the little stream I drew it from and then looked around for Lucario. I finally spotted him sitting near the tree behind the house. There were only a scant few trees here and there on the ranch, so I figured Lucario just wanted to sit in the shade or something like that. However, the odd thing was, Lucario sat facing the tree, out of the shade. As I drew closer, I noticed he wasn't really sitting; he was kneeling. Huh. Did Lucarioes view trees as sacred, maybe? Honestly, I'd never heard of anyone who prayed to trees before, but I figured it wasn't my place to judge. In the end, I decided to hang back for a bit until he looked like he was ready to talk.

After a few seconds, he turned to face me, _What are you doing? Are you finished?_

"Uh, yeah…" I shrugged, "But I think I could ask you the same question…Were you praying… or…?"

_No, _Lucario answered bluntly as he rose to his feet.

"Oh… Then what were you doing…?"

_Nothing._

Lucario walked right past me on his way to the house. I merely stared for a few seconds before following after him. He certainly was a strange one.

"Oh!" I realized suddenly once we were inside, "I should probably change your bandage soon. I think you're supposed to change them every day…"

Lucario looked at his bandage curiously, _Why?_

"I don't remember why! You just have to, I guess."

As soon as I unwound the bandage, I nearly gasped at the sight, "Lucario! You're-you've… You've already healed! Well, not entirely… but pretty darn close!"

Lucario let out a small chuckle, _Pokémon are far more resilient than humans._

"Wow…"

_Speaking of wounds… _Lucario shifted uncomfortably, _Since you did so well with this one… would you mind looking at another?_

"Another one?" I blinked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? What happened? Where is it?"

_Right here… _Lucario indicated his left leg.

I crouched down to look at it more closely and was a bit surprised not only to see that recent wound, but also a lot of other scars marring his legs. The blood on the wound he mentioned had dried, but I could tell by the size that it was no ordinary cut, "… What happened?"

_I injured myself while training. _Lucario stated quickly.

"And what's with all these other scars I see here? You always beat the crap out of yourself when you train?"

_Well, I'd say those are the result of disobeying my master from time to time…_

"Your… master would hurt you?"

_Well, yes, _Lucario looked at me like I was insane, _I have scars everywhere actually; you just can't see most of them because my fur is too long._

"That's terrible…"

_Funny._

"Uh… what's funny?"

_You act as though you've never heard of humans abusing Pokémon before… It's rather commonplace, you know._

"Well…" I shrugged, "I'd never even heard of Pokémon before the other day, honestly…"

_Oh. Right. I forget how little you know about the world._

I decided to just ignore that last comment and instead ask the next question that had been bothering me, "So… you're saying that the older scars are from your master's abuse, but what about the more recent ones? I assume your master must have left a long time ago… seeing as how abandoned the fields are…"

_Training accidents, _Lucario answered simply, but shifted his weight as though he were uncomfortable, _I suppose I over-do it now and again…_

I met his gaze for a few moments, trying to gauge whether this was even true. He gazed back at me, a little too steadily to be natural.

I sighed as I rose to my feet. Instead of questioning further, I went off to find the bandages and whatnot. If there really was something he was hiding from me, I doubt he'd tell me about it anytime soon. I knew prodding would pretty much get me nowhere fast, and I figured I needed to go off and see Julia soon anyway…

"There! All finished!" I announced happily.

_ Thank you. _

"No problem," I answered and began to wash up my hands, "So, anyway, today, I'm going to see Julia, and she said she's going to show me her ani—"

_Julia? _Lucario interrupted, _Who is that?_

"Uh… She's a new resident… along with her mom…"

_More of them! I knew it! I knew this was going to happen!_

"Calm down! Seriously, they're nice people, okay? They're just ranchers. Not mercenaries. Nothing to freak out about!"

_Ranchers… _Lucario repeated quietly, his face nearly horror-struck.

"Yeah… what? I already told you that they aren't going to kill anybody…" I replied, watching his reaction closely. Seriously? What was wrong with him? It's not like it was anything even slightly out of the ordinary. Hey, maybe living on this freaky island chain was wacky enough to make him think that things like witches and Pokémon were , and regular ranchers were strange and frightening.

But instead of answering me, Lucario just took off without another word.

"What the-? Lucario! Where are you going?"

Crap. There was no telling what he was doing to do now. It was official. Lucario was absolutely insane. And now, it was pretty much up to me to stop him. Some simple life this was turning out to be…

But instead of sitting around and complaining about it, I took off for town to warn Julia and her mother. I hadn't really learned where Mirabelle's ranch was, but I was certain it wouldn't be too hard to find. And sure enough, I spotted a decent-sized ranch right beside Taro's house. I hadn't really paid much attention to it before, but I was certain that Julia and her mother lived here. After all, it was the only place that had a fenced-in field beside it.

"Lucario?" I whispered anxiously as I slowly wandered around the house, "You aren't… hiding around here, are you?"

Everything was really quiet. It didn't seem as though Lucario was rampaging around here or anything like that. I mean, people would be screaming or something, wouldn't they?

Or maybe Lucario was planning to be covert about it? Knock out all his victims before they had a chance to scream? Would Lucario really be that evil or… But what else would explain him running off like that? Maybe he just ran away to hide… or something. At any rate, it didn't seem like he was here. Or maybe that's what Lucario _wanted_ me to think…

"C-Chelsea?"

I was so tensed up waiting for something to happen that I nearly screamed when I felt someone tap my shoulder.

At the sound of my outburst, Elliot nearly screamed as well, being the totally nervous guy that he was, "Uh… G-gosh… I'm s-sorry, Chelsea… I didn't mean t-to scare you…"

"That's okay, Elliot…" I answered after a heavy sigh of relief.

"Um… so… what were you doing a-anyway?"

"Oh! I was… I was just… you know…" I faltered, scrambling to come up with a decent answer, "Harvesting herbs!" I faked my cheesiest grin, quickly bent down to pick up the nearest handful of weeds, and held them out proudly for him to see.

"Oh… I see…" Elliot answered and adjusted his glasses, perhaps so that he could better see the dirt falling off the 'herbs' I held in my hands, "Well… I was thinking of… g-going to s-s-see Julia… I f-figured she might need help… you know… unpacking and stuff…" he trailed off into nervous laughter.

I lowered the weeds and tried not to look too relieved. Good. He was too busy being nervous to notice that something was up.

"But I was f-feeling a l-little… um, n-nervous, so…" Elliot began again, "Then I saw you and f-figured we could maybe… go together…? I mean, once you're finished picking weeds-er, herbs, I mean…"

"Actually, yes!" I tossed the weeds aside, "That's a brilliant idea! Let's go now!"

"B-brillant?" Elliot stuttered in shock as I promptly seized his arm and led him along.

"Julia! You're here, right?" I called out loudly as I heartily knocked on the door.

After several seconds of waiting, I cautiously bit my lip, "What if-?"

"Howdy!" Julia cried out cheerfully as she opened the door, "Aww! It's Chelsea and Elliot! How nice to see you two!"

"Julia!" I cried, "You haven't seen any blood-thirsty kangaroos, have you?"

Julia frowned, her delicate nose crinkled, "No…"

"No killer, insane Pokémon?"

"No… Why do you ask such… an unusual question?"

"Uh…" I paused, and instead turned to Elliot as if he somehow held the answer. It was his turn to say something now, right?

But Elliot was just standing there gaping like a fish, his face brick red. His mouth kept opening and closing like he was trying to formulate words to say but somehow couldn't, vaguely reminding me of that stupid Magikarp I caught yesterday. His glasses had completely fogged over, clearly affected by an intense emotion of some sort.

I followed his gaze and found myself looking at Julia. Apparently, being a girl myself, I hadn't really bothered to notice Julia's impressive figure. But I suppose now I couldn't help but notice. Now, not only was Julia a very pretty woman, but she obviously wasn't afraid to show it off. Her short shorts and rather skimpy top were definitely more than enough to get stuttering Elliot's hormones in a tizzy.

I had to force myself to keep my face impassive. Honestly, times like this made me glad that I preferred to dress conservatively. I didn't like guys drooling over me, especially not guys like Elliot. Really, I didn't know how Julia could stand it. I'd much rather be taken seriously wearing comfortable clothes that actually suited my job.

But Julia was actually standing there giggling. Did she find Elliot's little… display… cute? Gross…

"So… animals… yeah…" I started weakly, "You were going to show me the ones you're going to care for?"

"Oh right!" Julia remembered, "We don't have many animals yet… But mom's already called the animal dealer so we'll have more tomorrow… But we _do_ have two little sweeties that I'm just _dying_ to show you! Come on!"

And at that, she grabbed both our hands and led us out the door to that fenced-in field. Once there, she hopped over the fence without much grace and ran around to the back of the house calling out for her 'sweeties' all the while. Elliot and I just decided to stand there waiting. Well, I suppose I decided to stand there since there wasn't much brain activity going on in Elliot's mind, given his current state.

"Here they are!" Julia beamed happily as she stepped into view holding two red creatures in her arms.

"What?" I exclaimed in shock. I didn't know _what _those things were, but they definitely _weren't_ farm animals, "What in blazes _are _those things?"

"Torchic!" Julia nodded, the pleasant smile still lingering on her face, "And they lay the _best _eggs!"

One of the 'Torchic' hopped down from her arms and trotted over to me. I promptly backed away, "I don't know _what _that thing is, but it's _definitely _no chicken!"

"What's wrong, Chelsea? You don't like Torchic?" Julia frowned in confusion, "But they're so cute… I don't know _how _you could hate them…"

Elliot suddenly snapped out of his reverie at the sight of Julia's apparent distress, "Oh…! Um! Chelsea… she's from… you know, the city, so…"

"Oh," Julia's frown faded as comprehension set in, "so that explains it. You just haven't seen a Torchic before, then? Hmm, then I guess it's normal to be surprised… if that's the case…"

"So you mean to tell me all the eggs I've eaten in my life came from… that thing!" I gestured at it stupidly. Honestly, was it going to become normal for my world to be turned upside down every three minutes? What was _wrong _with this freaky place?

"Maybe…" Julia shrugged, "There's a lot more Torchic around than chickens 'round these parts, so it's more cost-effective to raise Torchic."

"Torchic!" the little red bird chirped happily.

"Yeah… okay…" I said weakly, figuring the best thing to do now was just accept it, "So… I take it when I start ranching… I'll raise Torchics too?"

"Yeah!" Julia nodded eagerly, "Won't it be great?"

"I guess…" I said softly and kneeled down to the creature's level. The little bird did vaguely remind me of a chicken, but… it really wasn't the same at all. This bird's wings and feathers closely resembled flames, and it almost looked like the Pokémon was smoldering.

Torchic gazed at me carefully as well, her dark eyes revealing her slight apprehension at my close proximity.

"You don't have to be afraid…" I told her quietly and slowly reached out to pet her. The second I came too close, the Torchic suddenly started to spew a few flames from her mouth. Flames!

I shrieked and scrambled to get away while Julia quickly set down the Torchic in her arms and ran over to me, "Oh no! Did she burn you?"

"No… I'm fine…"

"I'm _so _sorry!" Julia cried as she promptly scooped up the fiery monster in her arms, "I should have warned you; you have to wear protective gloves when handling Torchic! They're fire types, so you have to be careful that they don't burn you! I always forget to tell everybody that! You see, I never wear any anymore since these two have lived with me and my mom for so long… I'm so sorry, Chelsea!"

"It's fine," I assured her as I got to my feet, "I'm not hurt or anything. I think she was just trying to warn me not to get too close."

"Gosh, I really should remember things like that, though… Well, thank goodness no one's hurt, at least," Julia sighed as she set Torchic back in the pen.

"Man…" I scratched my head thoughtfully, "I didn't know that Pokémon could breathe fire… Do all Pokémon do that?"

Julia exchanged a glance with Elliot before answering, "No… Normally it's just the fire types… I take it you've got a lot to learn about Pokémon, am I right?"

"Yeah… most likely… But honestly, I'm so over-whelmed right now; I feel like my brain's going to burst…"

"Don't worry about it. You've got plenty of time to figure it out," Julia smiled, "We're only just setting up shop as it is."

"S-speaking of that," Elliot spoke up, "M-maybe you'd like some h-help?"

"Aww!" Julia clapped her hands together with a radiating smile on her face, "You are just _too_ sweet!"

After helping out Julia and her mother with all the things they needed done, I headed back home with a grumbling stomach. In my haste to figure out what Lucario was up to, I never wound up eating any lunch… Come to think of it, I _still _hadn't figured out what he'd been up to!

"Lucario!" I exclaimed once I opened the door.

He merely looked up from his place on the floor with a mildly irritated look on his face, _What is it now? Must you always disrupt my meditation sessions?_

"How can you just sit there and pretend like nothing even happened?" I exclaimed again, "Seriously, when you ran off earlier, I thought you had gone off to kill Julia!"

Lucario sighed, closing his eyes and touching his temples like he was dealing with a bothersome child, _Honestly Chelsea… Do you truly think that I would kill without reason?_

"Hey, I didn't know _what_ you'd do! You ran off without _telling _me anything!"

_If you really must know, _Lucario looked up at me with a scowl, _I went to see for myself how these new human inhabitants would treat their Pokémon slaves._

"And?"

_The Torchic in their possession seem to be treated rather fairly. I'll admit I was quite surprised to discover that._

"So you aren't going to kill anybody? Well that's good… What a relief."

_Now that I think of it…_ Lucario continued, his paw resting on his chin thoughtfully, _my master used to say that women are the fairer sex… Perhaps this is what he meant. Maybe females do treat Pokémon more fairly…_

I smacked my palm to my forehead. But in the end, I figured it wasn't really worth explaining. I was going to need every bit of Lucario's logic on my side…

"Yeah, okay… whatever you say… So anyway, you mind if I take a few berries? I skipped lunch, so I'm starving…"

_I've already told you that you can eat those anytime you want._

Just a few of those Oran berries was all I needed to get back on top of my game, "Ha ha, I swear these are super berries…"

_Well now that you've had your 'super berries'… what are you going to next? _

"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind trying my hand at fishing again, but I can wait until you're finished meditating…"

_I've already lost my concentration. No point in starting all over again now._

"If you say so then…" I shrugged and went over to retrieve my fishing pole from the toolbox.

_This time, try not to endanger our lives again by pissing off another Gyarados… _Lucario said lightly as he headed out the door without me.

"Whoa, did you really just say that…?"

_Yes, your bad habits are becoming mine. You see what you put me through?_

"My bad habits?" I repeated in confusion. Just because I think something, that doesn't mean I actually say it aloud! Wait… how did he even know that, anyway?

_Are you coming or not?_

"Yeah! Wait up!"

After practically running over to the other end of the island, I finally caught up to the annoying Lucario.

_This is where you went fishing yesterday, right?_

"Yeah, you see any Gyarados down there?"

_It doesn't look like it…_

We both stared down into the watery depths. I could see some movement down there, but I couldn't really tell what was down there.

_Well, _I looked up from the water when I saw Lucario's reflection turn to me, _here's hoping you don't catch a Pokémon with such a high level this time. _

"High level?" I repeated blankly.

_Yes. Meaning that Gyarados you caught yesterday was quite good at battling. He must have already been in plenty of battles before. It wasn't that easy to beat him. So, in any case, I really hope you catch a weakling this time. Or at least someone more reasonable and willing to talk._

"Yeah… I hope so too…"

At that, I threw out the line and waited for my first catch. Lucario watched expectantly, apparently thinking that I was going to catch one right away like last time.

However, this time, it took much longer before I finally felt a tug on the line, "Hey! I've got one! Finally!"

_Is it strong? _

"Not especially…" I responded while reeling it in. Whatever it was, it felt stronger than Magikarp, but felt like a feather when compared to Gyarados' might. Hopefully, it was going to be a friendly Pokémon this time. That's all that really mattered to me, "Aha! Here it is!"

The creature on the other end of my line looked like an odd sort of… thing. It was blue and round with a thin, black tail. Basically, it looked like two blue, rubber balls. The only obvious differences distinguishing the apparent head from the tail were a pair of tiny, round ears, dark eyes, and white-tinted cheeks.

"Azu?" the little Pokémon cried between clenched teeth. Apparently, he wasn't certain if he should let go of the line just yet. After all, it was the only thing holding the creature out of the water at this point.

_It's an Azurill, _Lucario informed me.

"Great…" I nodded slowly, obviously having no idea what the heck an Azurill even was, "So… is it friendly?"

"Azurill!" Azurill suddenly let go of the line and hopped onto dry land. His posture made him look like he was ready to fight.

"Just great!" I tossed the rod aside and made sure to hide behind Lucario, "Why does everything want to attack me?"

_No, that's not it. Azurill apparently just assumes that you're a Pokémon Trainer… Just let me explain the situation…_

And with that, Lucario started to growl and grunt at the Azurill. I couldn't even hazard a guess as to why he'd decide to do such a stupid thing, but I had to admit, it did seem to calm Azurill down. Within minutes, the little Pokémon started hopping around and dancing.

"So… Azurill isn't enraged anymore?" I asked finally.

Lucario looked annoyed, _No, Azurill was never angry. She only assumed that you were a Pokémon Trainer. It's customary for a Pokémon to test its battling skills against a Trainer. Most Trainers aren't willing to capture a Pokémon that hasn't proven itself to be strong._

"Wait… so Azurill's a girl?" I asked with surprise, "…How did you figure _that _out? Or do I not want to know…?"

_Do you even __listen __to me when I speak to you? _Lucario smacked his forehead with both of his paws.

"Well, yeah, I try to…" I began but stopped abruptly when I felt something wet and slimy grazing against my leg. To my surprise, I looked down and beheld Azurill tenderly rubbing her head against me much like a kitten would to her caretaker, "Wagh! What's it doing now?"

Lucario scowled, _She thinks you're going to be her new master. She still doesn't seem to understand the situation..._

"Master? What?" I looked down at the Azurill, who was now positively beaming at me, "What gave her that idea?"

Lucario sighed, _I tried telling her that you need help with your watering… However, Pokémon these days are so accustomed to having human masters that she assumes that you are going to be hers. She says she's been lonely and has always longed for human companionship…_

"Aw, the poor thing…" I frowned, "She doesn't have any family, I'm supposing? If that's the case, I wouldn't mind taking care of her…"

_You just don't get it, do you? _Lucario was practically seething, _Pokémon are not __meant__ to be slaves to humans! What gives you the right to enslave her? _

"I'm not going to enslave her…" I shrugged, "It looks to me like Azurill just needs a friend…"

_Pokémon and humans can __never__ be friends!_

"Says who?"

"Azu?" Azurill patted Lucario's foot with her round tail to get his attention, and waited expectantly, "Azu? Azurill?"

Lucario just started growling at her more vehemently than before, and eventually, it looked like Azurill was starting to form tears in her little eyes.

"Azuuuuurillll!" Soon enough, Azurill couldn't hold it in any longer and wound up bawling her eyes out. This just seemed to make Lucario angrier, and he continued to snarl like an angry wolf.

"Whoa! Hold on!" I quickly picked the wailing Pokémon up and held her in my arms, "What the heck did you say to her?"

Lucario huffed and folded his arms over his chest adamantly, _She refuses to accept anything in return for her work on this farm! She says it's the duty of all Pokémon to do the bidding of humans! It makes me sick! Humans must have brainwashed my entire race!_

"Well, I don't know…" I sighed, "But why freak out on her like that? It's not like she can't change her mind later. Maybe she just doesn't want anything right now…"

Lucario whipped around to leer at me, _So you agree to this madness? You're going to put Pokémon to work and offer nothing to them in return?_

"No… I mean… maybe she just wants a place to stay and some companionship? I'm sure that'll cover everything she needs right now…What's better than free lodging?"

_Fine… _Lucario gave in begrudgingly.

"There… it's all better now, right? No need to get all upset…" I said softly and petted Azurill comfortingly. Lucario looked away and growled again as though he thought I was putting on some kind of false act for his sake. As if I'd do something that. And really, I didn't want this little Pokémon to cry…

"You know, Lucario…" I began and held out the still sniffling Azurill in front of him, "You're the one who made this poor little thing cry… You should feel pretty awful right about now… Maybe you should apologize to her…"

_I only spoke the truth. I'm not apologizing for that_.

"But you were shouting at her! C'mon, really! How can you be so mean to someone this adorable?"

Lucario backed away with a grimace, _It's not my fault she refuses to accept reason! Stop shoving her tears in my face! I cannot help it that she takes offense to such simple matters!_

"Simple matters?" I repeated teasingly, "If that's true, then why did you get so upset yourself? I mean, you _did_ start yelling at her…"

Lucario made another noise of disgust and turned away again.

"Well, don't worry about Lucario, Azurill," I nodded at the little blue colored creature in my arms. Hopefully, she knew what I was saying, or at least caught the gist of it, "He's just a grouchy old kangaroo. I don't think he's as mean as he pretends to be though, so I guess you just have to get used to him…"

Azurill watched me with tearstained cheeks and nodded slowly.

"But you're not that way, are you, Azurill?" I asked with a smile and held her high in the air, "No, I bet you're a little ball of sunshine!"

Azurill giggled and wagged her tiny feet in joy.

"Aww! You're just like a little baby! You're just so adorable!" I couldn't help but giggle myself.

_I can't stand to watch this, _Lucario growled and stalked off.

What was his problem? Did he think I was faking my admiration for Azurill? Well, you can't fake friendship. Time can prove that… to even the most stubborn of jerks.

oOoOoOo

Notes: Augh! I thought I'd never finish this! I'm sorry for the long wait, you guys. This would have been out maybe a month earlier, but I ran into problems with this chapter. The dialogues just refused to run smoothly, so that certainly didn't help things.

Also, I just started my spring semester, so I can't guarantee the speed of the next update… Hopefully, the next chapter will be more cooperative with me! And my new prof will be more merciful when it comes to homework!

Well, thanks for sticking with me!


	7. What's Wrong with Cowboys?

Spring 4 – 5

What's Wrong with Cowboys?

"Well, why don't you come inside, Azurill?" I asked, "Maybe we could find you some place to sleep tonight?"

As soon as I put my hand on the doorknob, I turned to see if Azurill was still following me. Actually, she had headed right into the old doghouse to bask in its cool shade.

"That's the doghouse, Azurill! You don't have to sleep there!" I giggled.

"Azu!" Azurill started to burrow into the ground to further cool herself off in the earth.

I held the door open with a chuckle, "C'mon, Azurill, you at least want to see the inside of the house, don't you?"

Azurill quickly shook off all the dirt and hopped inside with a curious look on her face.

It looked like Lucario had been regarding the fireplace for some reason, but I didn't have much of a chance to figure out why since he abruptly whirled around when he noticed us coming in, _I came in here to be alone! What are you doing here?_

I sighed. If Azurill was going to live here, the tensions between the two of them would have to be settled once and for all, "Alright, look. If you've got some kind of problem with Azurill, will you just come out and say it already? What do you have against Azurill?"

_Nothing, _Lucario frowned at me, _I have no hard feelings against Azurill personally._

"What? Then why do you hate her? I thought you came in here because she bugs you or something?"

_I do not hate her. Quite the contrary. I assume she knows a few water type moves, so she'll be a tremendous asset at the times I'll come across those unruly Fire types…_

"Wait… what? First you can't stand Azurill, and now you think she'll be a great ally? I don't follow you at all... You're really weird, you know that?"

Lucario looked really irritated, _I never said I __hated__ Azurill. She just irritates me. She's so blissfully unaware of the world. Her ignorance was sickening me._

As Lucario said this, Azurill started bouncing happily on the couch.

Lucario shot me a look, _You see what I mean?_

"Okay, maybe," I shrugged, "So Azurill's a happy Pokémon; big deal. Does the fact that she's happy and you're miserable make you bitter or something?"

_Hardly! _Lucario grunted, folding his arms over his chest in annoyance.

"Or is it something else?" I mused, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "Oh! I get it! You're worried that I'm not going to pay as much attention to you now that Azurill's around, huh? Well, you don't have to worry about that! I'll make sure to spend time with you too!" I assured him and reached out to pet his head.

Lucario quickly dodged and avoided my hand, _Don't touch me!_

"Okay fine! Then I won't! Just go back to staring at the fireplace again; I won't stop you," I shrugged and sat down on the sofa beside the still bouncing Azurill. Getting these Pokémon to get along was starting to get pretty tiring…

Azurill ceased her bouncing around and snuggled beside me. She was so cute and friendly. Her playful nature started to get me wondering… I didn't know for certain, but Azurill seemed to be a rather young Pokémon. Maybe even a baby. As I watched Lucario glare at the fireplace for a few minutes, I started to wonder how old he was. He could be older than I am for all I know. Never having seen any other Lucarioes as a comparison, I had no idea at all. Was there ever a time when Lucario was as happy and carefree as Azurill is now?

"You don't have to stand, you know…." I said finally to break the silence. I patted the open area beside Azurill for emphasis, "There's enough room here for everyone."

_I prefer to stand, _Lucario answered coldly, never bothering to look up from the fireplace.

"Okay… fine. Have it your way."

Hardly a second after I'd finished speaking, Lucario whirled around again, _Those humans are back.  
_I sighed and started to get up, "Yeah… Whatever. Somebody probably just wants to see me for a minute or two. Just try not to freak out about it."

_So this is most likely going to become a regular occurrence? _Lucario looked less than pleased.

"What?" I stared at him blankly.

_Humans arriving to see you at this time. It happened yesterday too. And the day before._

"Oh… Yeah, I guess so. It's just Natalie and Elliot coming to pick up the shipment. If they don't come to pick up the crops and things I want to sell, nothing'll ever get sold. I have to make money somehow, you know…Ugh, speaking of which, I don't even have anything to ship today…"

_Fine. Just go and attend to them before they leave._

"Right," I headed for the door, "Don't fight with Azurill while I'm gone!"

Lucario just scowled and turned to look at the fireplace again.

Figuring it best to just ignore that for now, I headed out the door to see Natalie and Elliot frowning and arguing over the shipping bin.

"Hi guys! What's up?"

"Hey Chels," Natalie waved once, "Nothing to ship again today, huh?"

"Yeah… unfortunately…" I admitted sheepishly.

Elliot frowned, "But what h-happened to those herbs you harvested before we went to help Julia?"

"Oh, those!" I remembered suddenly, "Uh… I, uh… you know… I used them all for making tea?"

"Well, next time you should really save some of them," Natalie suggested, "You can get loads of money for herbs. That's why Grampa always made us search for them."

"Oh really? I didn't know that," I answered honestly.

"Yup! You see, I'm loads more helpful than Elliot!" Natalie grinned smugly, "Oh, and don't forget! You can sell your tea too, if you want. You can get a lot of money if you decide to cook your food before you sell it!"

"Okay, thanks. I'll keep that in mind," I smiled sheepishly.

"Did ya have any leftover tea? We could sell it now… but ya better hurry up 'cause the boat's comin' soon, so…"

"Oh no, that's fine! I didn't have any extra!" I explained quickly.

Both Natalie and Elliot looked at me with disbelief.

"Uh, yeah! It's because I drank it all!" I declared stupidly. Gosh, was I ever going to come up with convincing stories?

"Well, then… I guess you musta been thirsty…" Natalie shrugged.

"T-Try not to work too hard, Chelsea," Elliot looked a bit concerned.

"Oh, I won't! Don't worry about me; I'm fine!"

"Right. Well, see ya, Chels. We really gotta get goin'. Gramps'll be on our case if we take forever."

"Okay! Bye then!"

"G-good-bye Chelsea."

When I headed back inside the house, I noticed Azurill standing on the floor in a battle stance. Lucario was watching her with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What now?" I was getting really tired of this.

_While you were gone, I had Azurill demonstrate her moves for me…_

"What? What's _that _supposed to mean? What kind of 'moves' are you talking about here?"

Lucario looked at me with disgust, _I'm talking about __battle__ moves. Don't be such a foolish idiot!_

"Hey, I don't know…" I shrugged.

_Then don't make silly assumptions! _Lucario huffed at me, _Well… in any case, the only water type move she knows is Bubble. That's hardly going to be of much help to you, and it also means that Azurill is really too weak to defend herself from… pretty much every Pokémon she'll come across. This means I'll have to train her. _

"Okay…Sure…" I didn't really understand what he was talking about, but at least they looked like they were getting along…

_Well then, if you'll excuse us… _

Lucario slipped past me and headed outside. Azurill followed him with a very determined look on her face. She looked way more adorable than tough, but at least she was trying… I guess.

Spring 5

Like every morning, I awoke to the sound of knocking on my door. I wearily rolled out of bed to go answer it. Not surprisingly, I was greeted by the sunny face of Taro.

"G'mornin' Chelsea!" he beamed, "Today I came to teach you how to harvest crops!"

"Hello Taro," I answered wearily and tried to keep my eyes open, "… Isn't it easy to harvest crops though…? Don't you just have to pick them off the vine? You don't even have to use a tool… right?"

"Aha! Yer a bright lass!" Taro grinned, "It looks like you've already got it down pat! Keep up the good work!"

"Thanks Taro... See you around."

Once Taro took his leave, I figured I ought to stick around for a while. I was used to the routine by now. A new villager was going to show up any second now…

And I was right. A new, young-looking guy was heading this way. I panicked and closed the door right away.

A guy my age! And here I was, looking like a complete mess! My teeth probably smelled bad!

I was frantically combing my hair with my fingers when I heard him knock on the door. Figuring that it was too late now, I took a deep breath to compose myself before answering the door.

Once the door was opened, I beheld the young man before me with slight surprise. He was tall, and he was dressed exactly like a cowboy, complete with boots and everything. But what struck me was his hair. It was so blond it looked white, and it was very messy, like he had been riding on a horse all day.

He just stared back at me.

Uh… what now? Was I supposed to say something first? Every time someone came to visit me before, they always started things off by greeting me or something. I mean, he was the one who came to my door, right?

"…Uh… Hi!" I said quickly. The silence was really unnerving me, and the guy's cold stare wasn't helping matters either. I just had to break the ice somehow.

"…Hi," he said finally, his voice soft and low, "So you're the rancher?"

"Yeah, that's me," I answered, embarrassed laughter trickling out of my mouth every few seconds, "I'm Chelsea!"

"I heard. Mirabelle and Julia told me about you," he continued, pulling his black cowboy hat down lower as if to hide his face from view, "The name's Vaughn. I'm an animal dealer, so I figured I should come here and introduce myself."

"Oh. Um, yeah! That's cool! I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then!"

"Yeah," he said shortly and turned to leave, "See you around."

"Um, yeah! Bye!" I started to wave, but he had already turned around, so he probably didn't even notice.

I quickly closed the door and leaned against it with a sigh. Finally! A guy cuter than Elliot!

It took me some time to get ready for the day ahead, wake up Azurill, and eat breakfast. After it was all taken care of, the two of us headed outside to start the watering. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the turnips were ripe and ready for picking.

oOoOoOo

"We're finished, Azurill!" I cried out in triumph once the last plant was watered. It took me just as long as usual really, (since Azurill's Bubble attack was just that, a stream of tiny bubbles flowing out of her mouth) but I was glad for her company at the very least.

"Azurill!" the little Pokémon bounced around happily, using her rubbery tail as a springboard.

I smiled at her cuteness, but then couldn't help but wonder about my other Pokémon buddy, "Huh. How weird… Lucario isn't back yet. Normally, he comes back before I finish watering… Oh well. Hey, Azurill, you mind hanging out around here while I go into town for a while? I want to go get some more turnip seeds and maybe some other things…You mind?"

"Azu!" Azurill nodded happily and scurried off to go play in the little stream, the one I always drew from whenever I needed to fill up my watering can.

I smiled. It certainly was safe there, and Azurill looked like she was having fun. With that thought in mind, I headed off for Mirabelle's ranch.

When I opened the door, a tiny bell jingled, signaling my entry.

"Oh hello Chelsea!" Mirabelle smiled at me from behind the counter, "How can I help you?"

"Oh, um, I'm sorry!" I said quickly, "I, uh, don't really have the money to buy anything today… I, uh… I was just…"

"Oh, I understand, dear," Mirabelle smiled warmly, "Did you come to see Julia? I'm sure you can find her in the kitchen."

"Er, um, no… Actually, I wanted to… um…"

"Oh…" Mirabelle's confused frown transformed into a knowing smile as realization set in, "You wanted to see Vaughn, didn't you? Well, he's out back… You can find him in the field behind the house."

"…Thank you…" I managed to choke out, since my throat had all but constricted by now from all my embarrassment. I gave her a quick bow before hurrying out.

Gosh that was embarrassing. Mirabelle probably thinks I'm a blithering fool right about now…

Well, at any rate, I headed around back until I saw Vaughn in the field tending to some kind of Pokémon. It sort of looked like a sheep, but not really. Ugh, something else I needed to learn about…

"Um! Hey Vaughn!" I said cheerfully once Vaughn stood, apparently finished with the sheep-like creature.

Vaughn turned and fixed me with that same cold stare, "What?"

I swallowed. Gosh he was intimidating. Well, he was nothing compared to Lucario! I could do this!

"Um, I was wondering… Uh, my chicken coop is a little old… I want to buy some Torchic soon, but I'm worried that… uh… You know, I want to make sure the place is suitable for them before I buy any."

"Oh. I see…" Vaughn looked off into the distance for a moment as if in thought, "Well, I'll come by and take a look later, once I'm finished here… How does three o'clock sound?"

"That's perfect! I'll see you then!" I nodded hastily and headed off, "Thank you!"

"No problem," Vaughn said gruffly, returning his attention back to the sheep imposter.

I then hurried off to Chen's shop to purchase more turnip seeds… since I remembered that that was the real reason I was supposed to have left the farm in the first place. When I headed back to the ranch, I looked around and noticed that Azurill was no longer playing in the stream. Just before I could start to panic, I saw a fleck of blue in the doghouse. When I ran up to investigate further, I was relieved to see that she had actually fallen asleep in there. Seeing her reminded me of Lucario. Certainly he would be back by now…

I headed up to the window and looked inside to check whether Lucario was in there. From what I could see, it looked like he wasn't.

Wow, I wonder what's taking him… It was too weird for him to be gone this long…

Well, at any rate, I figured all I could do now was plant my seeds and wait for Vaughn to show. Lucario would show up eventually… By the time I finished the last of my watering, I looked up to see Vaughn already heading this way.

"Wow, is it three o'clock already?" I asked with a laugh.

"Not yet," Vaughn didn't smile, "I finished early."

"Oh, well, thanks for coming! The coop's up this way," I explained and led the way.

When I led him inside, Vaughn didn't say anything right away. Instead he went straight to work on his inspection, testing the strength of the wooden walls against his palm and staring at the ceiling intently.

"I don't think there're any cracks," I offered helpfully.

"No," Vaughn agreed, "The structure looks all aright. I think it'll hold up in severe weather… But as for the feed boxes," he gestured at the ground, "they're pretty messed up. You'll need to ask Gannon to build you some new ones. It'll be fine if you only have one Torchic, but once you get more, you'll need them fixed. Torchic don't share their feed willingly. You need feed boxes to insure they don't fight over the food. If that happens, only the strongest one will eat; it'll take everything while the weaker ones survive off the scraps… And I don't recommend feeding them by hand. Especially not for a newbie rancher like you."

I was slightly stunned. Vaughn struck me somewhat as the cold and silent type, but here he was, telling me all about Torchics. Maybe deep down, he was actually a friendly guy!

"You follow that?" Vaughn asked suddenly.

I nodded, "Yeah, thank you! I'll keep that in mind!"

"Sure," the smallest smile crept onto Vaughn's lips, "You need anything else looked at?"

"Nope," I shook my head, "I think I'll wait until I'm quite used to Torchics before I decide to go for any more animals… or Pokémon or whatever they are!"

"Good thinking," Vaughn headed for the door, "…See you around."

"Er, wait a second…!"

"What?"

"Um, these walls are made of wood, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, I saw Julia's Torchic spit out fire…" I patted the wooden wall for emphasis, "If that happened to me… These walls would burn right down!"

"You don't have to worry about that. The Torchic we've got up for sale don't know any fire-type moves yet. A few of Julia's do because she and her mother must have trained them up a little. You aren't going to do that. And even if you did," Vaughn tapped the wall with his hand, "these wood in these walls have been treated with a fire-resistant compound. It's a standard for all structures housing Pokémon these days… Anything else you're worried about?"

"No… Thanks for the help."

"No problem," Vaughn turned to leave, "See you around."

"See you."

I paused outside the door of the coop to collect my thoughts. In just that brief time, I learned a lot about Torchic, but I also learned a lot about Vaughn as well. He was a lot more knowledgeable about Pokémon than I thought… and a lot more talkative. I initially pegged him as the cold and silent type, but maybe you just had to get him talking about the things he liked in order to get him to open up a little… Well, if all that was true, then maybe Vaughn really was just shy… If that's the case, then that is just absolutely adorable! Really, I've always wanted to date a guy like that!

_What is going on here! _a thunderous voice roared within my brain.

I grabbed my head and bit my lip to keep from screaming, "Augh! Lucario! What are you trying to do; give me a heart attack! And worse yet, make my brain explode with your psychic screaming!"

_What are you trying to do, bringing more humans here! I won't have that man coming here! If I see him here again, I'll tear him apart!_

"What are you getting all worked up over?" I was irritated now, "You don't mind Elliot and Natalie showing up! What's wrong with Vaughn?"

_That one is different! _Lucario looked furious, _I won't have him stepping on my land again!_

"You said this land belonged to the Earth! What makes you think you can just take that back now!"

_You don't understand! That man is different; he's nothing but trouble! Don't listen to him; don't believe any of the lies he tells you! Don't go anywhere near him! And certainly don't bring him here!_

"You're paranoid," I turned away from him in disgust.

_I know how you feel about him, Chelsea, but you couldn't be more wrong. That man will hurt you, and the best thing for you to do is forget about him. _

I clenched my hands into fists. Just who the heck did Lucario think he was, trying to run my life?

I whirled around in a fury, "What makes you think you can control my life? I'll do what I want! _I'll_ choose the people I associate with! You can't make my decisions for me!"

My voice was much louder and angrier than I had expected. It was as if something deeper had been triggered within me, and my blood ran red hot. I couldn't remember the last time I felt this angry.

Lucario blinked. He looked stunned, and I suddenly wanted to take back what I had said.

_Go ahead. Do what you want, _he said finally, and he turned away, _But I warned you. Don't come crying to me when you get burned._

"As if!" I snapped. It was as if my mind was in a different place than my body. I felt far away from my boiling blood… as if I were in a dream.

Lucario walked away without another word.

oOoOoOo

I looked up from the ground and sighed. I felt a bit better now, but I knew I needed to patch things over with Lucario. And I doubted that would be easy. Why did I lose my temper like that?

I rose to my feet and brushed the dirt off my shorts as I made my way back to the house. As I passed the doghouse, I saw Azurill was still sleeping peacefully. If only befriending Lucario was as easy as befriending her. She was too sweet; I'd have to do something horrible to break our friendship. But with Lucario, it felt like everything I did was enough to make him angry. It wasn't that far off from someone else I knew…

I carefully opened the door to find Lucario meditating in his usual place. I didn't say anything to him, but he noticed me right away anyway. He quickly rose to his feet and looked ready to just run past me.

"Hey, listen," I held up a hand as if stop him, "I over-reacted before. I lost my temper, and I know I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm sorry."

Lucario looked uneasy and highly uncomfortable. I was a bit confused by this reaction but decided not to anything.

…_What? _He asked finally.

"I said that I'm sorry," I repeated, "I shouldn't have over-reacted like that. It was wrong of me to snap at you, so I'm sorry for that."

Lucario just looked even more uncomfortable, _Why are you saying this?_

"Because I shouldn't have-"

_No. What is the real reason? Why are you-why would you apologize to a Pokémon? It's not… It's never happened before._

"Oh come on, Lucario," I had to smile now, "I'm not like those other freaky humans you used to know. You really should stop comparing me to them… Really! I thought you'd understand that by now!"

_I suppose… _Lucario trailed off, looking thoughtful. It wasn't for several seconds until he stopped to look up at me, _Thank you, Chelsea. You're such a different human compared to the others._

"Really," I laughed with embarrassment, "I'm sure that most people are apologetic when they make mistakes. There are only a handful of crazy people that aren't that way…"

_I doubt that. _

"Believe what you want, but I'll prove you wrong someday!"


	8. What's your Problem?

To prevent confusion, know this: single quotes will surround direct thoughts. Chelsea will speak within her mind a lot this chapter.

Spring 5-6

What's your Problem? 

"_Another_ one? Seriously?"

Here I was, changing Lucario's bandages once again, and he tells me he has yet another wound…

_I train hard… I'll never become stronger if I don't push my limits every now and again…_ Lucario avoided my gaze.

"Every now and again?" I repeated incredulously, "Really, Lucario, you come home with a new wound _every _day! You need to chill out on yourself; honestly! I'm going to run out of bandages at this rate!"

_I apologize. I never intended to lessen your resources…_

"To be honest, it's not really my resources that I'm worried about here…" I sighed and set to work fixing him back up, "I really hope you don't work Azurill this hard…!"

_I would never! I push myself far more than I would anyone else. And Azurill is merely a child! I would never subject such a young Pokémon to the sort of training I endure._

"…If only you treated yourself so nicely…"

_ How I handle my own training is my business and mine alone._

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say…"

oOoOoOo

'Just great. Another rubber boot…!'I inwardly groaned as I tossed yet another old raggedy boot onto the pile. Cleaning up the ocean was great and all, but when was I going to catch another Pokémon? Well, then again, I supposed I shouldn't be complaining about it too much… After all, it was better than catching another rabid Gyarados…

After re-casting the line and waiting a good, long while, I quickly grew bored from the inactivity. So I glanced over at Azurill and Lucario to see how their training was going, half out of curiosity and half out of boredom.

Currently, little Azurill was running around at top speed while Lucario observed with his usual "friendly" glare. I had to admit: Azurill sure was a brave little thing; there was no way I'd want to follow a brutal training regimen crafted by that crazy kangaroo. Judging by his daily wounds alone, I figured he wasn't the type to allow for anything less than total perfection.

Not surprisingly, poor Azurill was looking like she was having a lot of difficulty with her running skills as it was; even without Lucario breathing down her neck, ready to give out hefty amounts of "constructive criticism" at any given moment. Now that I thought on it, I began to figure that her greatest challenge rest within the fact that her tail looked to be as heavy as (or maybe even heavier than) the rest of her body. I could only imagine how fun it was trying to run around with that kind of load on her back…

And so, as fate would have it, Azurill tripped and fell flat on her face, and to top it all off, her tail flew forward from the momentum and smacked her on the top of the head as well. So naturally, Azurill started bawling.

Just as I was about to get up and go comfort her, Lucario walked over to her and kneeled beside her. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but whatever it was, it seemed to calm her down. After a few minutes, Azurill was on her feet again, ready to give it another try.

I was stunned. I had expected him either yell at her or become utterly disgusted. Now he was… actually being nice? Well, I suppose Lucario did have his caring moments, but still! I wasn't expecting that!

After a few moments of staring at them in disbelief and amazement, I noticed Lucario slowly turn his head to face me. He was glaring.

I quickly whirled around and focused my attention back on my own affairs. Just great; I witness a rare tender moment, and I ruin it all by staring for too long!

But I didn't have much time to dwell on it since I suddenly felt a tug on the fishing line! Whatever it was, it wasn't all that strong, but I felt sure it wasn't garbage this time.

_You've caught something! _Lucario ran over and watched expectantly, _How strong is it?_

"It's not bad…" I answered but couldn't help but look over at him in confusion, "But how did you know I had a bite?"

_My Aura senses informed me, of course. Now pay attention or it might get away!_

"Yeah, I know that…"

Soon enough, I successfully reeled in the line to reveal… a blue squid.

"Hey cool!" I hadn't expected to reel in something that looked remotely edible, "Can I eat it?"

Lucario sliced the line with his claw attack, allowing the Pokémon to drop back into the water, _Trust me. That Tentacool is not tasty. _

"Oh. Well, can it help with the watering?"

_No. A Tentacool wouldn't be of any help to you. They can't even walk on land. They're actually a pretty useless Pokémon if you ask me._

At this, Tentacool frowned, indignant.

"You'd better watch what you say, Lucario," I pointed at the squid's angry looking face, "What if this guy's got a crazy relative too?"

Lucario scoffed, _I fear no poison type._

"Poison?" I repeated in shock. And here, I had wanted to eat the thing!

All of a sudden, Tentacool spurted a stream of purplish goo from his mouth, completely dousing Lucario. In retaliation, Lucario roared in rage and leapt into the water after Tentacool, but the sneaky squid had already disappeared within the watery depths.

"…Are you okay?" I asked once Lucario surfaced.

_Of course I'm fine! _he snapped as he climbed back onto dry land.

"Um… dare I ask what he sprayed you with?"

_Acid… _Lucario shook himself off, sending water flying everywhere (including on me!), _That's one of their signature attacks._

"Hey! Don't get acid on me!"

_I didn't. It either washed off in the water, or it got absorbed into my skin. _

I shuddered, "How can you talk about that like it doesn't even matter?"

_It doesn't matter. You see, I'm immune to poison type attacks._

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow, "So if I fed you poison, you _wouldn't_ get sick and die?"

_I can't __eat__ poison, you nitwit! My __body__ is immune, not my internal organs!_

"Like I knew that…" I shrugged.

Lucario cursed suddenly, _Here come your friends…_

"…What?"

Lucario seemed to order Azurill to go back inside the house before answering, _The ones you call Natalie and Elliot. Azurill and I'll be inside for now…_

"Oh… Right."

Lucario set me with an unfriendly scowl before heading after Azurill; clearly he wanted me to know that he wasn't happy with the situation. I turned away and rolled my eyes. He was just too darn pissy.

_What does that even mean?_

I whirled around. Lucario wasn't outside… how did he hear me? Wait a second! I didn't even _say_ anything! How the heck did he know what I was _thinking_!

_Oh? I didn't tell you I can read your mind to some extent?_

"To some-? W-what?" I sputtered. What the heck was going on? This was too unbelievable! There was no way he can read my mind!

_So what does "pissy" mean? I'm curious. _

"Get OUT of my head!" I very nearly screamed, clutching my head desperately. I admit, back when I first met Lucario, it was weird being able to hear his voice in my head… but this was ridiculous! Kangaroos were _not_ supposed to be able to read people's minds! That's like something straight out of some crazy science fiction movie! It just isn't possible! And besides, what if he wreaked havoc in there and wound up driving me completely insane!

"Chelsea…? Are you… like… are you okay?"

I released my head and looked up in surprise. Both Natalie and Elliot were standing there on the bridge, staring at me like I had lost my mind. Granted, it wasn't that far from the truth, but I didn't want them to know that!

"Oh! Ha ha! I was-you know how annoying fish are!" I laughed dumbly and held out my fishing pole, "Darn things _always_ get away, don't they?"

_Good recovery, _Lucario praised me mockingly.

'You better get out!' I warned him in my mind's eye, 'I'll tell them _all_ about my little Lucario 'friend' hanging out in the house right now if you don't get out right _this minute_!'

_Now that's an unfair stipulation. If I left the house now, they would see me._

'You _know _what I meant! Get _out _of my head _now_, or you'll regret it!'

I didn't receive a response, so I took it that Lucario had decided to stop torturing me for now. I looked up at Natalie and saw that she was looking at me expectantly. Did she just say something?

"Um, sorry? Could you repeat that?"

"Did ya have anything to sell today?" she asked.

"Oh! Yeah, I do! I've got plenty of turnips to send out today!"

"Ah, cool. Let's g-get 'em then," Elliot walked up to the shipment box and opened it up carefully, "Oh! These look nice!"

"Nice work, Chels," Natalie agreed, standing over them in approval, "Well, since you're here, I'll just hand ya the money right now, huh?"

"Oh thanks," I smiled gratefully. Now I wasn't completely broke anymore…!

_Good for you! I had a feeling you had no idea how to manage things like money! _

My jaw clenched. Lucario again! What the heck?

'I'm _warning _you!' I threatened vehemently.

Silence.

"So," Natalie looked around the fields, leaving Elliot alone to do all of the work, "looks like all of your crops are doing well."

"Yeah," I agreed, "I'm thankful for that."

"You take good care of them, to be sure," Natalie continued, but then paused and pointed off into the corner of the field, "Hey, what's that over there? Weed?"

I could hear the sound of Lucario's laughter in my head. I was going to throttle him once these two left!

"Natalie!" Elliot scolded, turning around in shock, "Chelsea would _never _grow drugs on her farm!"

Lucario laughed again, _No wonder they come all the time! That one is attracted to you!_

"Uh, yeah! That's right! I don't grow any sketchy stuff around here," I said aloud, deciding to ignore the phantom Lucario voice entirely for the time being, "Thank you, Elliot."

"Chill out; I was only kidding," Natalie said lazily, "But really, what is it?"

"It's…" I scratched my head, "Well, it was growing here when I first arrived. I don't know what it is, really."

_And you said you weren't any good at lying… Give me a break. You're human, so it's bound to come out sooner or later…_

'Actually,' I countered, 'I've only been getting better because I've been lying for _you_, you ungrateful jerk! And you repay me by haunting my mind with your freakish voice! I swear, you're going to make me psychotic!'

Again, Lucario did not respond. I was going to smash his annoying little face in once Natalie and Elliot were finished here!

_Very vehement, you are. Just like a human…_

'Oh Natalie,' I sang out within my head, 'do you have a minute? I'd like to introduce you to my 'sweet' little _pet_, Lucario! He's currently hiding out in the house… just like the little _chicken _that he is…!'

_Oh please. That's not your best. You can do better, I'm sure!_

'I'll say it!"

I waited for his response, but he did not pursue the matter. Maybe he left for good now. Good riddance.

"Well, see ya around, Chels. We'd better get going," Natalie spoke up.

"What? Oh! Right! See you!"

Elliot struggled with all the shipment packages by himself as Natalie walked away without a second thought, "Bye Chelsea…"

"See you around."

_You should __at least__ smile at him. After all, he's most likely going to ask you to marry him someday. Marriage is a human ritual, right? Or do you prefer the… shall we say, 'hit-and-run scenario' when it comes to romance…_

I grit my teeth angrily. I absolutely _refused_ to verbally spar with him any longer!

Once the siblings were out of sight, I stomped my way back to the house and flung the door open with a resounding slam, "WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR PROBLEM, LUCARIO!"

Unfortunately, my frightening actions and demeanor caused Azurill to promptly scurry underneath my bed out of fear. However, I was far too angry to address that right now.

Lucario turned around, an amused look on his face, _Well, I figured I should introduce you to the full extent of my power sooner or later… I figured that now was the best time._

"Oh yeah? And did you even give a thought as to how freaked out I might get!"

_Oh, I knew you would freak out. You're pretty true to your species, you know._

"You're impossible!" I scowled at him, "You get your kicks driving me crazy? Huh?"

_Funny. I could say the same to you._

"I'm _not _playing your stupid games!" I very nearly screeched at him, "That's it! I'm-just- Oh, forget this! I'm out!" Seeing that he was going to get nothing but pleasure at my expense, I decided to just leave him in the dust. He was pissing me off so badly; I needed to cool off.

_Oh stop. Don't bother going off to sulk in the corner. I'll save you the trouble and leave myself. Come, Azurill. _

I moved away from the door and merely shot him a dirty look. He deserved it for messing with me like this! I hadn't done _anything_ to him!

_Come Azurill! _Lucario ordered again.

"I think our little argument scared her. She's not leaving from that bed," I explained irritably, trying my hardest not to let my anger blow up all over again.

Lucario walked over to her hiding place, crouched down, and peered underneath the bed to growl to her quietly. The little Pokémon was out of my view, but I knew she wasn't going to come out from there. Lucario wouldn't be able to persuade her otherwise. He was way too much of a jerk to accomplish anything like that.

After a series of unsuccessful attempts, Lucario let out a sigh and rose back to his feet. From there, he made for the door without another word.

"So then… you can read my mind…" I stated, causing him to halt, "… How much did you see, anyway?"

_Not much, actually._

I looked at him, my disbelief no doubt written all over my face.

_To be perfectly honest, I'm not much of a mind-reader, really. You see, I can only plainly see the thoughts that are currently on your mind at the moment. Your conscious mind, so to speak. Many Lucario can delve much further, but I, at this point, am not able to do that. I haven't found much use in it, so I haven't developed the skill very far. _

"I see…" I smiled, only a little, "So you're a total slacker, huh?"

Lucario smirked back, _More or less._

I paused for a moment, my mind thoughtful, "So… how many times have you looked at my mind then… without telling me?"

Lucario shrugged, _Every now and again. Though… I have to admit, sometimes you've given me a monstrous headache... There've been several occasions where the sheer amount of thoughts in your mind has overwhelmed me, and I've needed to back out. You think far too much sometimes. I can't keep up… It's as if you're thinking of a million thoughts at once!_

I laughed softly, "Yeah… I guess I kinda do that sometimes…"

At this point, Azurill peeked out from her hiding place. She looked relieved that tensions were alleviated, but she was still hesitant.

Lucario nodded slowly, _Humans have very gifted minds. It's what makes them so frightening… _

"… Frightening…?" I repeated with confusion.

Lucario merely smiled and began to head for the door once again. Once I started to look at him a bit more closely, I could see that this smile of his looked very… sad.

"What do you mean, frightening?" I repeated, following him to the door.

Lucario turned, that sad smile so clear and visible now. He shook his head somberly to silence my questioning. And with that, he turned and left.

Spring 6

Julia's Birthday

The next day, I awoke (once again) to the familiar sound of Taro knocking on the door. I quickly rolled off the bed, painfully smashing my knee on the bedframe in the process. I grimaced for a second, but then quickly headed over to open the door.

"G'mornin' Chelsea!" Taro beamed, "Today I'm here to—"

"Give me another lesson?" I finished.

"No, actually," Taro grinned his toothy—er, toothless grin, "I've already taught you _all_ of the basics! I'm very proud of you, Chelsea! Now I'm _certain_ you'll become a great farmer!"

Now I was slightly confused. Didn't I refuse all of his advice? Why was he praising me for that?

"So that's why I'm giving you this!"

Taro promptly plopped a lightweight sphere into my hands.

"Uh… what is this?" I held it up; the object wasn't all that big, roughly the size of a tennis ball. The top half of the sphere was red in color, the bottom half, white. It felt as though it was made of metal, but I couldn't be sure.

"Dunno," Taro answered with his characteristic grin, "Found it in some rubble we cleared away back when my fam an' I first arrived. I think it migh' be an artifact, left behin' by the people who were here before us!"

"Maybe…" I peered at it thoughtfully. Maybe I could show it to Lucario later; perhaps he would know more about it, "Well thank you, Taro. I'll try and put this to some good use!"

Taro chuckled, "Good ta hear! I was jus' lettin' it rust away on my cupboard! Well then, I'll be on my way! Work hard, young missy!"

"Sure thing," I grinned and waved. After he had left, I peered into the distance. It looked like nobody was coming today.

Now that was unusual.

Eh, whatever. It didn't really matter anyway.

So, after a quick breakfast and whatnot, Azurill and I were ready to take on the day! But first, I heard another knock on the door. It was a bit late for visitors, (since they all normally arrived so early in the morning) so I was a bit surprised. Nonetheless, I hurried over to go answer it.

"H-hey Chelsea…"

It was Elliot.

"Hey, what's up?" I smiled at him good-naturedly, "And where's Natalie? You leave her behind today?"

"Y-yeah…I…" Elliot looked extremely nervous for some reason. Even more nervous than usual.

My brow furrowed, "Is anything wrong?"

"Oh-No! Of c-c-course not! It's just-that I-um… Well…" Elliot paused, looking up at the sky briefly before taking a deep breath, "IfoundoutthattodayisJulia',butIwastoonervoustodoitalone!"

"Uh…" I blinked, "Sorry, but I didn't really catch that last bit there…"

Elliot sighed deeply, "Today… i-it's Julia's birthday…"

"Oh, it is?" I grinned; why was he so nervous about that? "Hey! Why don't we get her a present!"

"That's what I… Yeah…" Elliot said sheepishly, "I w-was a bit n-nervous to see her alone, and I k-knew Natalie would just laugh at me, so…"

"Oh, I doubt that…"

"You don't know Natalie…" Elliot looked rather glum.

"Hmm, maybe not," I conceded, "But anyway, I don't mind coming with you to see her… What sort of present do you think we should give her?"

Elliot held his arms behind his back, looking rather nervous again, "I've already… Well, I've a-already got her one, actually…"

"Oh… Well, I don't want to show up empty-handed… What should I do?"

"Well, she d-does like those flowers that grow 'round her house… Maybe that w-would work?"

"Oh, yeah!" I remembered, "That's actually a great idea! Nice thinking!"

"N-no problem…" Elliot smiled weakly.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay, Azurill?" I called back into the house.

Little Azurill nodded, her expression fierce and determined.

"Azurill?" Elliot repeated in confusion, "Y-y-you've got a Pokémon?"

"Yeah, she's my new buddy! You want to meet her?" I grinned again, "Come on inside and see her!"

Elliot stumbled inside and stared at the little creature as she happily started bouncing upon her tail, "Oh my… She's very cute…"

"She's super sweet, too! She likes to help me with my watering!"

Elliot chuckled, albeit awkwardly, "How nice. V-very small, she is. Is she a baby?"

"Maybe," I shrugged, "I can't really tell though. I don't have many other Pokémon around for comparison…"

"Maybe you w-will someday…"

oOoOoOo

"Uh… do you s-suppose you could… distract Natalie for a while…?"

We had stopped outside Taro's house as Elliot paused to gather himself. Not surprisingly, he was very flustered once again.

"Distract Natalie?" I repeated, confused, "Why?"

"I d-don't want her to see my… present for Julia… She'll l-laugh… at me…"

"I don't think she would laugh at you for that… But fine; I can keep her busy, if that's what you want."

"T-thanks," Elliot smiled.

"G'mornin' young lass! Ye've come fer a visit?" Taro exclaimed loudly once Elliot and I stepped inside the door.

"Yeah, but only for a quick visit, I'm afraid," I nodded to him.

Felicia looked up from the pot she was tending to on the stove, "Oh! Chelsea! Hello! You look so _cute_ today! Just like Natalie!"

Natalie threw her drying towel onto the table in frustration, "_Mom! Please!_"

Felicia giggled sweetly, "Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I can't help myself! You're both simply _adorable_!"

"Well! I'll be!" Taro exclaimed loudly, completely cutting off Natalie's derisive retort, "It's gonna be sunny t'morrow! I can feel it in my eyebrows!" And with that, Taro's old, grizzled eyebrows began to twitch madly and erratically.

I stared. Surely _that _was distracting enough for Elliot to get by, right?

"I _hate _living with you people!" Natalie thundered, "I swear, if there actually _were_ any cute guys around here, I'd be married and _out _of this house faster than you say 'weather prediction'! Ugh!"

"But… that's a pretty long phrase to say, isn't it?" I spoke up… Not my best idea.

Natalie whirled on me, her eyes flashing with rage, "You know something better?"

"N-no," I said quickly, "But uh… I'm guessing you've never noticed Vaughn? I mean, he probably wouldn't want to marry somebody right now, but he's not exactly ugly… you know?"

"_Vaughn_?" Natalie exclaimed, her voice filled with rage and disgust, "That _disgusting_ cowboy _freak_? Who'd want to marry an old _geezer_ like him?"

"He's not a geezer… or a freak…"

"Geezer?" Taro's face drooped in pure sadness, "Who's callin' _me _an old geezer? I've still got it in me, ya know…!"

"We _aren't talking about you_!" Natalie raged.

"Oh," Taro tapped his chin thoughtfully, "but I don't know any other geezers…"

"I can't _stand it _anymore!" Natalie shrieked. She stomped her way to the door, nearly crashing into Elliot on her way out (apparently, he had been standing there signaling to me that he was ready, and I hadn't even noticed), "Outta my way, Idiot!"

"S-sorry!" Elliot stuttered, practically losing his balance as he stepped aside to make room for her, and a tray he had been holding very nearly toppled out of his hands as he did so. Once he was reasonably out of the way, Natalie stormed off.

"Oh my…" Felicia said softly, "Natalie's temper is becoming more and more explosive, I'm afraid…I don't know _where_ she gets it from."

"I reckon it's mah old grammy…" Taro planted his cane definitively upon the ground, "She was a real _fire_cracker, that one…"

"Um, well," Elliot spoke up sheepishly, of course, "Chelsea and I… we better get going now…"

"Oh, go right ahead, dears!" Felicia's melancholy was completely forgotten already, "Do come and visit again, Chelsea! It's very nice to see you so often!"

"Thanks," I nodded, "I'll be sure to do that, then."

"Work hard, young missy!"

"I will!"

oOoOoOo

I quickly pulled up a nearby flower and headed over to the door, where Elliot was already waiting, a sheepish and nervous look plastered upon his face. I gave him a weak smile before rapping on the door.

"Hello~!" Julia sang out as she opened her door, "Oh hi! It's Chelsea and Elliot again! How nice to see you two!"

"Hi!" I held out the toy flower for her to take, "Happy birthday!"

"Aww!" Julia accepted the flower with surprise and delight, her face lighting up with joy, "Thank you so much! You didn't have to give me a present, but thank you all the same! You're both just too sweet! But how did you know it was my birthday today?"

I gestured towards Elliot, but he did not say anything. His face had turned brick red, and he was stammering a bunch of nonsense. I suppose Julia found that adorable because she was smiling at him now.

"C-Charlie… he t-t-told me…" Elliot finally managed to answer the question, and he promptly thrust the tray into Julia's hands, "And… y-y-yeah… This… is… from… m-me…"

"Oh?" Julia looked at the tray in her arms in shock, "And what is this?" she carefully lifted the cloth to uncover her present, "Oh! How _sweet_! You made me some cookies? Oh thank you! You're so sweet~!" she gushed and gave Elliot a teasing wink. This simple action sent Elliot into a quivering mess.

I just knew Lucario was completely wrong about Elliot having a stupid crush on me. This was proof. Elliot definitely seemed to like her more than me.

…Thank goodness.

"Oh, you two!" Julia gushed, "You're both just so sweet! Come in and have some tea, won't you? We can share some of these cookies too! I hope you don't mind, Elliot, but I just _can't_ eat all of these cookies _all _by myself, you know! Especially not when I have such nice friends to share them with!" she winked again.

Elliot was just stammering again, so I decided to speak for both of us, "Sure, we'd love to have a cup of tea with you, Julia."

"Come on in then!" Julia beamed again. She held the door open briefly with her foot before heading off to lead the way to the kitchen. I grabbed the door and quickly ushered Elliot inside (which turned out to be a more difficult task than I thought… given that he could hardly walk in this heavily embarrassed state).

On the way to the kitchen, Julia very nearly crashed into Vaughn. At first, I had no idea where he even came from; it was almost as if he had just appeared there like a ghost. But after a second, I realized that there was a door just ahead, probably leading to a backroom for storage or something.

"Oh, hey, Vaughn," Julia said casually, completely oblivious to the fact that they had nearly collided into each other, "Chelsea and Elliot just stopped by to wish me happy birthday, and I'm inviting them in for tea… You want to join in?"

Vaughn took one look at the still-sputtering Elliot; his expression didn't change, but his voice was laced with disgust, "No," he said simply and walked past us, not even bothering to acknowledge me in the slightest.

"Oh, poo!" Julia stuck out her tongue childishly, "You're no fun!" And with that, she walked into the kitchen without another word, as if she had thoroughly expected that sort of response from him.

"I'm too busy," Vaughn replied curtly, already halfway out the door.

"Yeah, sure you are!" Julia called out sarcastically from the kitchen.

For whatever reason, I continued to watch Vaughn leave though the nearby window. Elliot remained at my side, still jabbering and quivering pathetically, since clearly, he was still unable to move on his own at this point.

"Hey… You two still there?" Julia's head popped out from the kitchen.

"Oh right!" I suddenly remembered, "Coming!"

oOoOoOo

Notes: I think for the tenth chapter, I'm going to do something special… or maybe the eleventh, I'm not exactly sure at this point… But I will do something special! And I'm really looking forward to it!

Oh, and originally, I wasn't going to have Chelsea find out about Lucario's mind-reading abilities until later on in the story, but I figured it added a little spice to an otherwise boring scene. And plus it opens up a few possibilities… just think of what might have happened if Lucario began to play the same sort of trick he just played on Chelsea on his master…

Anyway, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts! Please stay tuned!


	9. Could I Ask You Just One More Question?

Spring 6

Could I Ask You Just One More Question?

Surprisingly enough, Elliot had gradually warmed up to Julia, and the two were now chattering together pleasantly. I had to admit, it was pretty awkward at first, having to speak for Elliot most of time (since I didn't really know him well enough to produce very accurate answers on his behalf), but now, he was comfortable enough to speak with Julia on his own, at least somewhat more easily now. And as a result, their conversation was really taking off. Seeing the two of them getting along so well, I figured it'd be best for me to give them some time alone.

"Well," I pushed back my seat and started to rise, "I've had a lot of fun, but I really should get back to work… Oh, now that I think of it, I haven't even started watering the crops yet, so yeah… I'd better get going…"

"Oh…That's no good…!" Julia stuck out her lip playfully. "But yeah… I know you are awfully busy… Well, then you'll just have to stop by again real soon! You promise?"

I smiled at her. "Of course. Thanks again for the tea, and make sure you have a good birthday too."

"Aww!" Julia suddenly caught me in a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you came today! I feel so lucky, making two great friends this quickly! I mean, I've only just moved in, and I've already got two BFFs! I couldn't be more happy!"

I chuckled but was quite relieved when she finally let go. Were all the women here extremely strong or what?

"See you soon, Chelsea…" Elliot nodded at me.

I waved one last good-bye before heading out of the kitchen.

Just as fate would have it, the second I stepped out, I very nearly crashed into Vaughn, just like Julia almost had done earlier. I quickly apologized, but he merely gestured impatiently for me to move first. As I did so, I noticed Mirabelle stifling some chuckles with her hand.

It really was too bad that I didn't have a cowboy hat of my own… It'd sure be nice to hide my face a little bit sometimes…

oOoOoOo

"I'm sorry, Azurill!" I called out.

The little blue Pokémon had apparently decided to start the watering by herself. She was already spraying the flourishing plants with her tiny bubbles.

"I took a little longer than I expected… but I'm ready now!" I brandished my newly refilled watering can and hurried over to help her out.

Azurill nodded in understanding and quickly gestured with her tiny foot towards the significant progress she had made while I was gone. Indeed, her bubble moves were getting a good deal stronger; Lucario's training was working out even better than I had thought.

"Wow! You're really giving it your all, huh?" I smiled at her as she took on a proud pose. "Well, at this rate we should be done in no time, you think?"

And a short time it did take. In addition to Azurill's improved bubbles, I was really starting to think that my own strength was beginning to improve a bit too.

_So, are you finally finished with your chores?_

You'd think I'd finally become used to that Lucario voice popping up randomly in my head from time to time, but I still wasn't. "Man, Lucario! You really need to stop with that sneaking up on me!"

_Ah, yes... I tend to forget about your greeting rituals... So… are you finished then?_

"Yeah," I dumped the last of the water back into the stream just as Azurill began to splash around and play in it, "we just finished. And you know… Azurill's already started to become a lot stronger…"

Lucario looked pleased. _Well? What did you expect? I have been training her, you know._

"Don't get too modest now." I said with a small laugh, glancing skyward. Just then, a horde of unrecognizable birds flew overhead. When I looked back at Lucario, he was glaring at me. But instead of addressing that, my eyes followed after the birds again. "Hey, Lucario? I've been wondering something for a while now… Could I ask you about it?"

_So you want to ask a question now? How surprising… I was expecting another insult._

"Seriously? Could I just ask it?"

_Well, what is it then? Out with it._

"Were there a lot of Pokémon living on this farm…? Back when… your old master ran the place?"

His gaze shifted over to the barn on the other side of the island, and a sigh escaped from his mouth. _Yes. There were many Pokémon here._

"Were there other Lucarios? Or was it just you?"

_My entire clan was made to live here. In that barn over there. We were crammed together with a bunch of other types of Pokémon as well. There were a lot of fighting types, like Machoke and Machop. Rock types too. The Pokémon had to be strong. _

"Seems kind of small to have that many Pokémon." I remarked, remembering how large and unfriendly many of those rock types seemed, back when I had first seen them. It had been when Lucario and I had explored the mountain path. "Must have been pretty tight."

_I didn't know any different at the time. It was just how we lived. _

"… Where did they all go?"

Lucario's distant look seemed to vanish suddenly. _Shortly after my master left, everyone decided to leave as well. I was the sole Pokémon who decided to remain here._

"Why?"

_I suppose they didn't want to remember this place anymore. Many of them traveled far off for distant islands to start a new life…_

"No, I mean, why did _you_ decide to stay?"

Lucario looked at me, somewhat startled. _Me? Well… I decided to stay because… in spite of everything, this place is my home. It's… It's the only place where I have memories of my parents._

"Your parents…?" I paused, thoughtful. "I remember you said your mother… But your father… What happened to…?" I trailed off, wanting to hit myself for being so insensitive, but the words were out faster than I could stop them.

Lucario let out a heavy sigh. _I suppose I would do well to start from the beginning. Hopefully, this might put an end to your incessant questioning…_

I scratched my head embarrassingly. "Sorry…"

Lucario ignored me and pointed westward, at the mountain off on that forested island. _That is the original home of my clan. It was where I was born. _

"Whoa," I shielded my eyes to see it better, "at the very top?"

_More or less. _Lucario shrugged. _Honestly, I don't remember living there at all. I was a young Riolu when the first humans arrived, around the age of Azurill maybe, perhaps younger._

"Wait, Riolu? What's that?"

Lucario sighed with annoyance. _My pre-evolved form. _

I stared blankly, not comprehending.

Another sigh. _Imagine me: about this tall, _he lowered his paw to his knees, _without spikes, and with really tiny ears. _

I paused for a moment to picture all that in my mind. Once I thought on it, I could really imagine a super-cute baby version of Lucario. "Awww…."

Lucario's eye twitched in irritation. _It's not as... sickening as you imagine…! _

"Hey! I put careful thought into that mental image! How dare you call it sickening! It's cute!"

_Not much difference between the two. _Lucario folded his arms over his chest obstinately. _Now, _as I was saying_, I was very young when the first humans arrived. At first, there were only a few of them, and they seemed quite kind, offering food and medicine that we had never seen before. But it wasn't long before we realized we were being deceived… The first conflict was over land. The humans wanted to clear our forests to build their own dwellings… As you can see, _Lucario jerked his head towards the south, at the island where Taro, Chen, and Mirabelle's families lived now, _they succeeded in many attempts. Even this farmland here was once covered in forest. _

"Wait a second… Then how come that island…?" I pointed towards the west, at the island that was clearly covered in a multitude of trees.

_Those trees cannot be cut down. Believe me, the humans have tried it before._

"But why not?"

_I'm not sure. _Lucario gazed at the island of his birth thoughtfully. _Perhaps the Harvest Goddess has something to do with it… _

"Oh, maybe…"

_But at any rate, this invasion on the humans' part was not appreciated by my clan. We didn't live on these islands, but seeing as the Pokémon that did live there were unable to defend themselves, we knew we would need to step in to end this conflict. But it wasn't enough. More and more humans arrived, and it became quite difficult to counter their might. We had strength on our side, but they had it too; they were able to summon Pokémon slaves to fight for them. These Pokémon were trained solely for battle, and even our best warriors quickly became no match for them. My father was among those who perished in the battle._

I wasn't expecting to hear that. "… Lucario… I'm so sorry-"

Lucario seemed to ignore my response. _The humans used our retaliation as justification for enslaving us. With our strongest warriors out of the picture, there was no possibility of resistance. And thus, my life on this farm began. It's almost hard to believe that I lived through this story… since I struggle to remember it. I was very young, so young that even my father's face is difficult for me to picture..._

At these words, my vision started to blur from the presence of tears. I quickly turned away and tried to think of something else to occupy my mind.

_What's wrong? _Lucario sounded a bit alarmed.

"Nothing."

_…Does it affect you that badly? Why are you—are you feeling alright?_

"Yeah, it's nothing, okay? Just forget it." I faced him once more and gave him a quick and fake smile.

He did not respond; no doubt he was searching my mind for answers. He wouldn't find any; I was certain of that.

After a long pause, he seemed to give up. _You're impossible._

"So are you." I had to point out. "But hey, I have one last question for you."

_Ah. I see how it is… You can ask me as many questions as you want, and when I merely ask one, you avoid answering entirely. That's hardly what I would call fair._

"Well, that was different."

_Different how?_

"Just different, okay? Now can I ask my question or not?"

_What is it?_

"Where is your master now? What happened to him anyway?"

_My master… _A wide and frightening-looking smile formed on the kangaroo's face. _Arceus knew of the injustice caused upon us, and eventually he sent Tornadus and Thundurus to ravage these islands…_

"Uh…? What's that?"

Lucario grabbed at his head in annoyance. _You're so ignorant! _

"Yeah, well… what can I do about it?"

Lucario stomped a foot onto the ground. _Arceus is the Guardian of all Pokémon! Many say that he created Pokémon, and I believe he watches over and defends us all._

"Okay…"

_And as for Tornadus and Thundurus, they are also Pokémon, able to summon high winds and lightning. Together, the two can create devastating hurricanes._

"A hurricane?" I exclaimed in shock. "But wouldn't that hurt the Pokémon too?"

_Not a single Pokémon was harmed in the storm. I believe Arceus enchanted it somehow… _Lucario looked thoughtful. _I've yet to find out how exactly. _

"So your master… He's dead?"

_No. All of the humans left before the storm arrived. They must have had some kind of warning… _

"Like the Weather Channel?" I joked.

But instead of laughing, Lucario looked confused. _What is that?_

"Uh, never mind…" I paused for a moment and glanced around thoughtfully. "So do you think he'll ever come back?"

_I certainly hope not._

"Me neither…" I glanced at the house. "He'd probably get real angry at me for taking over his place…"

_It doesn't matter now. It doesn't belong to him any longer. And I don't either. _

"If he does come back though, you could just pretend that you belong to me." I suggested, trying to be helpful. Even if I got myself kicked off the place, at least he wouldn't have to suffer through this jerk's abuse again. "I doubt he'd be able to tell the difference."

Lucario, however, was indignant, obviously disgruntled by this suggestion. _I belong to _no one_! If that man does decide to come back, I'll _fight_ him to the bitter end. Even if I means I'll die trying._

"Okay…! Don't get all worked up over it. I mean, how many years has it been since he's left? I'd imagine it's been quite a few, right?"

_Yes, it has been quite some time…_

"Then if he was going to come back, he would have done it by now... We probably shouldn't even think about it anymore..."

_You're probably right… _Lucario's gaze seemed to wander off into the distance.

I fell silent for a few moments and noticed Azurill running off to the doghouse, probably to take a nap. Then a particularly nasty thought struck me, and I nearly shuddered at it. "Uh, Lucario? The bed I sleep in… it's not the one your master used, right?"

_Of course not. _Lucario looked annoyed at the question. _Why?_

"Well, you know… That'd be pretty creepy if it was… and not to mention, extremely gross. I mean, I didn't even wash the sheets the first night I slept in it!"

_So what? No one would have slept in it for years anyway… _

"Still! It's gross!" I made a face. "But hey, if the bed isn't his, then whose is it? What is it even doing there anyway? Was it yours?"

_The bed you sleep in is a child's bed. _Lucario explained. _My master bought it in the hopes that he would have a child of his own one day. However, it was never meant to be. All of his potential mates always left before one of them could lay an egg…_

"Lay an egg?" I snickered. "What? You think humans are chickens or something?"

Lucario didn't smile. _What's a chicken?_

"Ah, never mind." I waved it off. "So you're saying he could never find a wife, huh? So no kids for him then?"

_ Not a one. _Lucario shook his head. 

"Do you think you'll have kids one day?" I wondered randomly.

Lucario practically jumped a foot into the air. _What-why would you-why would you even ask that?_

"Just wondering…" I shrugged with a smile. "No need to get all flustered."

_Flustered? _Lucario glared at me, his face slightly flushed. _Who says _I'm _flustered?_

"Not me…" I pointed out, trying to be innocent. "So… how old are you anyway? Did you ever have a lady Lucario in your life? Just as a girlfriend, you know?"

Lucario seized his ears and pressed them flat on his head, covering his eyes. _Stop asking me all these questions! You're driving me absolutely insane! What gives you the right to interrogate me all day long, anyway?_

"Sorry… I guess I got a bit carried away…" I laughed sheepishly.

Lucario let go of his ears and headed towards the house. _At this rate, I'm going to have to set a limit as to how many questions you can ask me each day…_

"Oh really?" I perked up, following him. "So how many would I get?"

Lucario shook his head, holding out a paw as if to stop me. _Oh no. You already passed your limit for today. I'm not going to answer another question until _after_ the sun rises tomorrow morning!_

"What? So you're going to leave me hanging? Unfair!"

Once Lucario reached the door and walked inside, he stopped suddenly, standing stock still. Thinking he was kidding around or something like that, I slipped around him and opened my mouth to ask him what his problem was. But before I could say anything or even blink, he practically jumped on me, and I suddenly found myself pinned against the bookcase. The bookcase itself was practically empty, but I could still feel the shelves digging into my back painfully.

"Ouch! Lucario, what are you-!" Fear lurched into my stomach, but I still held onto the hope that he was only joking around with me.

_Just what are you trying to accomplish here, keeping a Pokéball lying around?_

"I don't know what you're talking about! What is your-problem?"

Lucario started shaking me, rattling the bookcase and threatening to tip it over entirely. _What are you planning to do with it? Tell me!_

"Stop it, Lucario! Come on! I thought we're supposed to friends here! Why are you-?"

_Friends? _Lucario's grip tightened, and suddenly, I was face-to-face with a leering wild animal. That hope I held that he was only kidding with me vanished entirely, and fear took over completely.

_You are beyond foolish! Thinking that _we_ could be friends! Friends!_ _As if such a thing could _ever _be possible!_

I closed my eyes and braced myself for the worst. I had given up completely on trying to reason with him. I knew there was no use in it… I was back in high school again, getting beat up in the locker room… getting beat up on the streets… I was only minding my own business, and now I was caught up in an unending whirlpool… Always spinning… lost and confused… in a place I could never get out of… How did I always end up in these situations? I was going to get hit across the face… Again…

But that didn't happen. When Lucario's grip suddenly vanished, I opened my eyes and looked around in confusion. But instead of being relieved, I became filled with a new dread.

Lucario was raising that glowing staff above his head. And I knew its purpose was to crash down and crush my head.

My eyes snapped shut once again and I shielded my head with my arms. My knees were giving way, and I was slowly sinking lower and lower down to the ground.

This_ is why we can never be friends!_

I heard a loud shattering, but that was it.

Slowly, I opened up my eyes, the fear that my head might not remain intact still lingering in my stomach. Bits of metal were lying on the ground in front of me, and I looked up to see Lucario staring at me. His eyes were wide, as if he were afraid of something, and he looked as if he were frozen in place… Frozen in fear…?

Without a word, he ran out the still-open door, not bothering to close it behind him. I was too stunned to know what to make of the situation. One minute we were joking around and really getting to know each other and the next… What had come over him?

I stared at the broken bits of metal on the floor and was surprised to discover that several of them were red and white in color. It must have been that artifact Taro had given me earlier today! Had this strange object somehow upset Lucario so much that he would decide to destroy it? What was it then? How could a little metal sphere cause him so much anguish that he would do all this?

Again, I didn't know what to make of it.

I had learned quite a bit about Lucario today, but he was still an enigma to me. And a dangerous enigma at that. Lucario was a sentient animal, an animal who could talk and feel the same emotions I felt, but he was still an animal. And animals, cute as they are, bite and lash out without reason. Or rather, he wasn't necessarily an animal… he was a Pokémon. Were Pokémon like animals? Or were they something else?

It felt like a dangerous question to ask. Too dangerous for me. I had escaped the violence of the city by the skin of my teeth, and I wasn't going to risk my neck out here too. I thought I had gotten away from it all, and yet, here it was, right back in my face. Gyarados had been proof. Why hadn't I seen it then?

I closed my eyes and held my head in my hands, trying to think. Suddenly, I heard a small noise at the door, and I looked over to see Azurill, peeking around the doorframe timidly.

"Azurill… did you hear all that?"

Azurill ran over and buried her face against my boots, squeaking her name repeatedly.

I gently picked her up and faced her towards the broken metal sphere pieces. "Azurill? Do you know what this is? It used to be circular, and it was red on top and white on the bottom. Do you know _anything_ about it? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Azurill stared at the pieces for a few moments, but when she spoke, I had no idea what she was saying to me.

I sighed and lifted her up to face me. "Should I stay here, Azurill? Should I continue to farm? To live on the same land as Lucario? Or should I leave? And live somewhere else, somewhere where I'll finally belong and be able to live in peace? Or do I belong here? Will I find peace here or am I destined to live somewhere else?"

She stared at me. Eventually, she began to repeat her own name again and again, but I talked over her. "What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to know? How did I even wind up here? What other options do I even have? Could I ever possibly belong anywhere?"

My questions seemed to meld with hers; it seemed as though we were both sitting there, asking questions in different languages, trying to understand something that was continually beyond our grasps.

Did she have my answers and I hers?

oOoOoOo

Notes: And the readers waited around for months, just for a chapter as short as this one…

I couldn't be more sorry about that. My last semester was pretty tough, and I get the feeling this next semester coming up isn't going to be any easier… It's not so much that my brain is being stretched beyond belief; it's more that I always have so much reading to do… I can be a pretty quick writer, but reading tends to take me forever… x_x

But if you find yourself bored in between my slow updates for this fanfic, maybe you might be interested in reading another fanfic of mine, Azelf's Aura? A lot of the beginning chapters aren't quite so great, but overall, it's not too bad, I hope. I tend to update that one faster, since I already have the basic plotline worked out. This story, on the other hand, takes me much longer... Not sure why, exactly. I still love writing this though, so don't think I'm going to give up or anything. It just… takes me a while to write it.

And I haven't forgotten about that special chapter. It'll be coming up on chapter eleven.

Thanks for sticking with me and being patient!


	10. Where's Taro when You Need Him?

Notes: So I decided to make things a bit more complicated than I originally planned. Hopefully, that's a good thing…

Spring 6

Where's Taro when You Need Him?

It would probably be for the best if I left here and now, but…

I hugged my knees tighter to my chest and gazed at Azurill. She was staring at me with what looked like concern in her eyes, but I couldn't be too sure. Well, she wasn't repeating her name anymore at least.

It would be sad to leave her, but I could, most likely, take her with me if I really wanted. I doubted she would object to it. But where would I even go?

As much as I wanted to leave… I was getting tired of running away from everything. Somehow… it just… made me feel even emptier. And of course, just look at what happened when I decided to run away to this place. Running really hadn't ever solved anything for me; I just seemed to run into the same problems over and over again, no matter where I wound up. And I doubted… I could prolong my largest problem much longer…

Azurill suddenly yelped and ran over to my right, glaring at something off in the distance. I turned; Lucario was heading across the bridge, and Azurill was taking on a battle stance.

"Stop it…" I pushed her slightly, trying to guide her away from here. But she wouldn't budge.

Lucario approached the two of us, his gaze low. He said something in an undertone to Azurill, but she just gave him a short response and continued to glare at him.

_Chelsea… _Lucario finally looked at me. _I just wanted to tell you… I apologize. I don't expect you to forgive me… I have no excuses. _

I just stared. Lucario was… apologizing…? Completely humbled and actually feeling ashamed? What…?

He sighed and continued. _I let my fear get the best of me. I let it blind me… so much so that I ignored your own fear. It's just… inexcusable. _

"…_Your_ fear?" I repeated, finally breaking the short silence. "Why on earth were _you _afraid?"

Lucario squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. _I should have known you'd be ignorant of the situation… You always are._

I rose to my feet. "Then tell me! Explain!"

He took a breath before turning back to me. _I know that you've taken a liking to me. So when… I saw that Pokéball… My instincts took over all of my actions. I thought you were going to capture me. _

"Pokéball?" I looked at him in defeat. "Is that the thing you destroyed? The metallic sphere?"

_ Yes… _Lucario's gaze rested somewhere off to the left of me. _I don't know where you found it, but… it wasn't the best thing for me to see. Not without some kind of warning. _

_As you know, I immediately jumped to my own conclusions. At the time, I truly thought that all of your previous kindnesses to me were all part of an elaborate ruse. That you were merely pretending to be on friendly terms with me so that I would warm up to you and allow you to take away my freedom. I felt I needed to do whatever I could to stop you. I immediately panicked. _

_And when you called me your friend… _he paused, seeming to grimace at the very memory of it. _You see… many humans that have captured Pokémon… they sometimes refer to them as 'friends…' It's merely a euphemism for what they really are to these humans: slaves._

"But I'm not going to enslave you, Lucario! I never would! You know that!"

_When I saw that Pokéball… I thought otherwise._

"But what does that Pokéball even do? It's just a stupid piece of metal, right? I mean, Taro just gave it to me this morning because he thought it was some kind of relic from the recent past. I didn't even know what it was… I set it up there on that shelf because… I was going to ask you."

Lucario sighed, and his posture sank. _Clearly, I couldn't have been more wrong in my assumptions… I should have known…_

At the sight of this, Azurill's fighting stance dissolved, and she watched Lucario with both concern and confusion.

"Please…" I cautiously moved closer. "Just tell me. Is this sphere used to try and control Pokémon somehow?"

_Yes. _Lucario frowned, looking back up at me. _The Pokéball is able to transform a Pokémon into a small beam of light and encapsulate it inside the sphere, only to be let out at the master's discretion. When a Pokémon has been captured, it resides within that Ball until its master summons it outside. _

"Wow… is that so?" I shuddered at the thought. "That 'Pokéball' isn't all that big, really… I can't imagine a Pokémon of your size being _inside _one of those… Does it hurt to be inside of it?"

_I don't know. My master never actually captured me. That's why I was so afraid when I believed you might. _

"But wait… how did he get you to do his bidding if he didn't ever capture you?"

_When I didn't obey, he used other means to force me to oblige…_ Lucario gave me a rueful smile. _But, practically speaking, he simply could not capture all of us. By law, a Trainer may only carry six Pokémon with him or her at a time. The rest are sent elsewhere, most likely to a research center. Of course, my master needed far more than six of us to run this place, so he did not capture any of us with a Pokéball. To be honest, I am very lucky for that. If he had, I would still be bound to him… and you or anyone else would not be able to either capture or free me. I would be his and his alone. No one would be able to change that, not until after his or my death._

"Wow…" I paused, trying to absorb all of this. "Then no wonder you were all freaked out. I mean, I would never do something like that to you, and I hope you would realize that by now, but… Yeah… It does sound scary… I can kind of see why you lost it."

_What are you saying? _Lucario looked at me, shocked. _Are you… Are you trying to absolve me of blame?_

"Maybe a little…" I smiled slightly, shrugging. "I mean, yeah, you _were_ a bit over the top, but… you're kind of _always_ over-dramatic, so… I _suppose _I can let you slide… just this once, of course!"

_ You! _Lucario's shock remained. _You're insane!_

"I am not!" I chuckled; his facial expression was just too hilarious. "Geez Lucario! First you practically attack me and now you call me crazy! Maybe I really should consider blaming you forever and ever!"

Lucario slumped. _You are right. I'm sorry._

"Kidding, Lucario. I'm only kidding. Sheesh. Maybe I should teach you how to joke around… Maybe then you'll be less crazy."

Lucario gawked at me a moment before finally gathering something to say. You're _the crazy one here. But I suppose I don't… mind it that much._

I laughed. "Well, I can take that, I suppose."

He finally cracked a smile. Azurill looked from him to me, astounded. I figured now would be the best time to go right for the heart of the problem.

"So… do you think… eventually we could be friends? Maybe one day?"

Lucario's smile vanished and a nervous look seemed to spread over him. _I… I don't…_

I frowned, thoughtful. "Is it because I'm a human? …If I was a Pokémon, would things be different?"

_It's not… _he looked at me for a moment before looking away. _It's not really… I think I could… it's more…_

"Were you planning on finishing any of these sentences?" I asked playfully, trying to make things light-hearted once again.

He sighed. His face looked rather torn and practically tortured.

"Hey…" I touched his shoulder lightly. "I was only joking. But yeah, it probably wasn't very appropriate right now… But really, don't worry about it. Just forget about my question. It's only a question, and you shouldn't feel obligated to answer something if you don't want to. Just don't get so upset over it. It's nothing to worry over, really."

_But, _Lucario's tone was heavy once again. _I feel as if… I hardly deserve your friendship._

"Huh? What? Why would you say that?"

_Our bargain… _he gave me a sidelong glance. _You've kept up your end… and I've hardly done the same for you._

"Oh that…" To be perfectly honest, I had forgotten all about it until now. "Hey, my end is a lot easier than yours. And besides, it's okay for you to make a mistake, you know. You're working on it. A work in progress, as they say."

_Chelsea… You don't understand… _The torn look appeared again. _I feel like I'm trapped… in a vicious, never-ending cycle… The pain the humans have given me… I feel as though all I do to you is transmit that hatred… And you… this hatred you'll have of me will be sent back onto the Pokémon you will gather to create this farm… It's all a continuous, un-ending cycle… I'm still not powerful enough to break it. And even in my best efforts to stop it, I still feel it continue… It's because I just can't forget my past. It's the only place where I can remember…_

"Lucario! What _is_ this you're going on about? You're just talking nonsense!" I couldn't even stand to listen to this anymore. "What makes you think you would do anything like that to me? Transmitting hatred! What the heck? What even makes you think that you've done something like that?"

_Maybe I haven't yet… But who's to say I won't?_

"Who's to say you will?" I countered. "_What_ is making you think like this?"

_Chelsea… I… _Lucario's head drooped. _I've failed…. someone else before… Miserably. I don't… I really don't want to do it again… Never again. But I'm so afraid… I might…_

"Lucario…" As much as I wanted to question and find out more, at the same time, I knew I couldn't drive him any farther than I had already. Whatever happened, I could tell it was practically tearing him apart. And that was all I needed to know right now.

I moved up to him and carefully put my arms around him. Instead of stiffening, like I had expected, he leaned just slightly, his head against my neck. For some reason, he just seemed so tiny and small. So far from what I had seen from him up until now. "I don't know what happened, but… I think everything will be just fine. You shouldn't be so quick to blame yourself… Lucario."

Azurill squeaked quietly. She gently rested her head against Lucario's ankle.

After several moments, Lucario slowly moved back, touching his temples with his paws. A small sigh escaped him. _I think I need to meditate…_

I looked at him carefully. "Let me know if… you ever need to tell someone about whatever it is that..."

He shook his head. _Not now. I just… can't. But… thank you. For that. _

I nodded. And as I did so, a saddening thought crossed my mind. "When was the last time someone…"

He pawed at a wrist spike distractedly. _It's been a long time._

"Aw… That's so sad… Well then, I'll have to change that!" I pointed out, trying to give him another hug.

_Oh no! That's enough! I'm fine now! Just stay away from me!_

"Hmm, fine then." I shrugged, grinning. "Oh, hey! I know! Why don't we go in and eat something, huh? I don't know about you two, but I'm pretty much starving right about now." I scooped up Azurill in one arm and managed to wrap the other round Lucario's shoulders. "And I bet you two will need some more energy so you can get back to training, huh? What do you say?"

_Yes… why not? _

Spring 7

The car was stalling again. I shook the steering wheel urgently.

"Keep going!" I urged. "_Don't _die on me now!"

Thankfully, the engine started to return to normal, and I was able to continue on my way down the highway. I pressed down harder on the accelerator; I had lost too much time already. I had to hurry up.

"Why must you always drive so fast?"

I turned; Lucario was sitting there in the passenger seat, eying me with a questioning look. Questioning yet knowing. He couldn't know, could he?

"I don't have time to think about any of that." I said shortly.

"You can't run forever. You know that."

"Just shut up already!" I snapped irritably.

Just then, the engine started to die out again. The car was decelerating…

"No…!" I kept pressing the accelerator, but it couldn't stop my massive deceleration. The car was coming to a complete stop. When it did, I slammed my fist against the wheel, suppressing the urge to scream at it. I turned the key, trying, in vain, to restart the engine. It wasn't working!

"Do something!" I hollered at Lucario. But when I looked over at the passenger seat, he was gone. Whatever! I didn't need him anyway!

"Come on! Come _on_! _Go_!" I kept turning the key and slamming my foot onto accelerator over and over again. "Hurry up!" My heart was racing with the urgency I felt. I _had _to start this car!

Eventually, I gave up and collapsed against the steering wheel, suppressing the urge to cry. It was too late. I knew it. Even if the car hadn't broken, I probably wouldn't have made it anyway…

I remained that way for a while, leaning with my head against the wheel, waiting… when, suddenly, something hit my shin.

Bewildered, I gazed down to see that the car was… morphing. The dashboard was moving, all on its own, and tapping me on the shins.

I thrashed and screamed. The _car_ was going to _eat_ me! Just _how _could I escape from a hungry _car_?

_What is _wrong _with you? Why won't you wake up?_

"Huh?" I opened my eyes and was startled to find that I was lying in bed. Lucario was standing over me, and he was continually lifting and letting his arm fall onto my shins.

"What are you-?" I moved away, curling my legs up closer to my chest.

_Are you finally awake? _Lucario raised his arm and let it fall on me once more. Only this time, he chose to let it land on my head.

"Yeah! _Yeah_! I'm awake! I'm awake! Stop it already!"

_Hmph. It's the only way I could get you to wake up! And let me tell you, it certainly wasn't easy… You yell at me even when you're asleep! _

"Uh… sorry…" I scratched my head sheepishly, recalling the things I had said to him in my dream.

_I had _no idea _you were this lazy! _he continued, his annoyance still quite evident. _How long do you humans even need to sleep anyway? Azurill's been out there for hours watering all _your_ crops on her own, you know!_

"What?" I scrambled to the edge of my bed to check the clock, very nearly falling off in my haste. "What time is it?"

My alarm clock was lying on the floor just beside my bed, since there was no nightstand anywhere in the house. I climbed out of bed to look at it, and to my annoyance, its screen was blank. "What the-? Why isn't the clock working?"

… _Ah! Are you wondering about the electricity? That _sometimes_ works..._

"_Sometimes_?" I repeated, indignant.

_Yes, you must move the snake around a bit in order to make electricity work. _Lucario explained, moving over to the outlet and nudging the cord to which the alarm clock was attached.

"… Snake?"

_Yes. A 'snake' is a dead Ekans. And since this thing here looks like Ekans and doesn't ever move, I call it a snake._

"Yeah… whatever you say, Lucario…" I didn't even bother trying to understand him anymore. Instead, I stared at the clock, hoping that he could manage to fix it. All of a sudden, the machine sprang to life, but it died a second later.

"What! It's already eleven?" I exclaimed, springing to my feet. "Oh man! Taro mustn't have come here today, so I slept in and wasted the whole entire morning!"

_Yes, that's what happens when you are lazy enough to depend on boxes and old people to wake you up every morning._ Lucario commented, still jiggling the electrical cord.

"Oh, enough!" I cried, scrambling to gather some fresh clothes. "Kept your comments to yourself and tell Azurill I'll be out in a minute, why don't you?"

_Whatever you say, Sleepy. _

oOoOoOo

"I'm so sorry, Azurill!" I said sheepishly. She had done quite well without me, but she was still far from finished. "You can stop if you want; I'll handle the rest."

_Yes, she didn't mean it, Azurill. She was… sleeping! _

It was really annoying to hear Lucario's chortling in my head. And really, was it even _that _funny? All I did was sleep in…

"Man, you're irritating! So I made a stupid mistake! Can't you just get over it already?"

Lucario paused for a moment, trying to stop his chuckling. _No. _

I rolled my eyes and started to water the crops. "I ought to water you, Lucario!"

_What does that even mean?_

"It doesn't." I shrugged.

Eventually, he stopped being annoying and the crops became sufficiently watered. While Azurill went off with him to go train, I decided to go for a walk. Hopefully, I could manage to find some real herbs (not weeds!) to sell later. And hey, I figured it wouldn't hurt to run into a few people either.

So I found myself looking for herbs in the empty area surrounding Mirabelle's pasture. I wasn't really finding much of anything, and I was a bit disappointed to see that no one was outside tending to the Pokémon. Thinking I'd head off to the beach next, I passed by Mirabelle's house itself in a last ditch effort to find someone to talk to.

"Chelsea!"

I whirled around just in time to practically get glomped by Julia. "Uh, hey Julia; what's going on?"

"What's going on?" She backed away, blinking at me in confusion. "_How _can you be so casual at a time like _this_? I've just got a _ton _to tell you about! Come on inside! I'll make you some tea!"

"Um, okay…" I allowed myself to practically get dragged inside her house. When I was hoping to chat with somebody, I certainly hadn't expected this… But hey, it was a whole lot better than being ignored... I suppose.

Once inside the kitchen, Julia quickly slammed a pot onto the stove and hurriedly filled it with water. From there, she took a seat across from me, a huge smile on her face.

"I think I like Elliot!" she told me, her face still as bright as ever.

"Really?" I blinked, a bit taken aback. While I couldn't deny that we had become friends quite quickly, I was still a bit stunned that she'd admit something like this to me so soon. I mean, we had only met a couple of days ago, and already, she was telling me who she had a crush on? Well, it was great that she trusted me that much, but really? This soon?

On the other hand, it was a quite welcome relief. Julia looked to be rather friendly, hardworking and pretty too, so certainly, it would be easy for Elliot to fall madly in love with her. And if that happened, he'd leave me alone. And of course, I wouldn't get any more teasing from Natalie… Huzzah!

"Oh, he's just so cute! Don't you think?" Julia gushed. "I mean, he's just _so _sweet… How he gets all embarrassed and shy… and so thoughtful too! Aww!"

"Yeah!" I nodded in agreement. "You two would be great together, really."

"You think so?" she giggled. "Well, it's only a little crush, of course, but maybe someday… hmm?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess…"

"What do you think of him?" she asked.

"Uh…" I faltered, trying to think of something. "He… has… pink hair?"

"Yeah!" Julia giggled. "It's so cute too! Just like bubblegum!"

I couldn't help but make a face while Julia had her eyes closed. Really… all this talk of Elliot was starting to get to be a bit much. "So… when the tea's ready… shouldn't we invite your mother and Vaughn over for some? I'm sure they wouldn't mind a little break, right?"

"Vaughn?" Julia stopped giggling and frowned at me. "But he's not even here today."

"Huh? Then where is he? Outside?"

"No," she smiled slightly, shaking her head. "he's never here on Sundays. He only comes here for two days out of the week. The rest of the time, he's out trading Pokémon with people on other islands. He's an animal dealer; did you really think we're his only customers?"

"Oh." I hadn't expected to hear that. Only two days out of the whole week? Why couldn't the Witch lady do that?

Julia smirked. "You sound disappointed... Does _somebody_ have a little crush on Vaughn?"

"Huh. No way." I laughed, probably a bit too nervously.

Julia stared at me pointedly, as if trying to figure it all out. Then she burst into giggles. "You _love _him!"

"I do not!" I said with annoyance, turning away. Seriously… I felt like I was in middle school all over again.

Julia sprang up to go check on the tea. "Don't worry!" she sang out. "I won't tell him! I'll just be sure to drop a few hints that _somebody _misses him when he goes away!"

"Julia. Please." I rolled my eyes. Julia wasn't exactly subtle, and the last thing I needed was for her to get Vaughn to think I had some childish crush on him. "Do not say _anything_ to him. He'll just think you're stupid."

"He thinks _everybody's _stupid…" she pointed out, pouring out the boiling water into cups and placing tea bags in them as well. "Actually, you're probably better off looking for somebody cuter, like Elliot. Though, it would be absolutely _adorable _if you got him to warm up a little!"

"Yeah, I don't know." I gratefully accepted the tea she handed to me.

"Well, we'll just see…" Julia winked at me before taking a sip of tea.

oOoOoOo

Notes: So I thought it would be interesting if Julia became one of Chelsea's closest friends… I've seen a few fanfics where Chelsea has a (female) confidante, but so far I haven't seen one with Julia set in this role. I think it could have the potential of being pretty hilarious at times… XD

And yes, the special chapter will be coming up next. Don't get too excited about it though, since it might be a bit harder for me to write, and when that happens, it takes me longer to finish the chapter.

Hang in there and thanks for reading!


	11. Let the Rain Fall

Spring 8

H. Goddess' Birthday

Let the Rain Fall

_We're here. _

I blinked, looking around in startled confusion. Lapras turned back toward me, smiling softly.

_Did you doze off?_

_ I suppose… _I cleared my throat. Looking down, I was more than a bit disappointed to discover that I had spilled blood on her shell again. _Forgive me for-_

_ It washes off; don't worry._

_ Right. And I suppose the rain may take care of it as well. _I added, leaping off her back onto dry land. _Thanks again for the ride._

_ Of course. _She paused a moment, looking rather troubled. _Do you have enough Oran berries? I worry about you, you know…_

_ I have plenty. _I assured her, crossing my arms with annoyance. _I'm not so idiotic as to forget that I need to eat, you know._

_ I meant for your wounds. _She frowned. _You would do well to take care of yourself… _

_ Yes... _I acknowledged impatiently; she was always worrying, far more than was ever necessary. _I'll be fine. Don't bother worrying about me. In fact, Chelsea has already shown me a more effective way to treat wounds._

_She has? _Lapras smiled again. _You should bring her along next time. I would love to meet her._

_ Yeah… We'll see… _I looked away, shuffling some fallen leaves with my foot. _Well… I should probably get a move on now…_

_ Take care. _That warm smile reappeared. _Thank you… for everything that you do. You've helped a lot of Pokémon, and I know they are all very grateful to you._

_ It's… the least I can do. Now I really should go. _

_ Of course. Until next time… _she nodded and retreated back to the sea.

With one final nod to her, I turned and ran through the forest, my pendant thumping lightly against my chest. I would take care of that next.

Upon reaching the Goddess pond, I focused on the ground a few feet to its left, where the soil looked recently disturbed. That was my hiding place.

I dug frantically but took care not to send any mud flying into the Harvest Goddess' sacred waters. After having made a wide yet fairly shallow hole, I dropped my pendant into the deepest portion and quickly refilled the hole, making certain that the entire area looked disturbed, not just where I placed the item.

As soon as that task was complete, I headed for the nearest tree and climbed its trunk, trying to gather as many leaves as I could. What I couldn't hold, I threw down to the forest floor. Once I had gathered plenty, I headed back down and threw the last of the leaves everywhere.

Finally satisfied, I took a step back to gaze upon my work. No one had managed to find my treasure yet, and I was ready to do whatever it took for it to remain that way. I started to head back for home but halted in my tracks at the sight of a flower.

Carefully uprooting it, I dropped it into the pond and waited for her to appear. Within moments, a green light enveloped the area, and there she was. The Harvest Goddess.

"Thanks for the offering, Lucario! And on my birthday, too!" she beamed.

It was her birthday today? Somehow, the thought of a Goddess being born sounded… strange to me. Did she just appear out of thin air one day or did she have parents somewhere? It was one of those subjects that made me feel a little dizzy when I thought about it too much…

"It's so nice to see you again so soon!" she continued, still beaming.

_Yes… Well… _I kicked at the ground, suddenly quite unsure of what I wanted to say. _You… wanted me to visit you more often, so… here I am…?_

She giggled. "Do you have _any idea_ how cuteyou are?"

_No… _I answered flatly. What kind of a strange question was that?

She frowned slightly, but before she could respond, I suddenly remembered what I needed to ask of her.

_Ah!_ _You'll look after my pendant for me?_

"Of course! I always do!" she grinned again, but this time, her smile quickly faded. "But why do you still feel the need to hide it? Wouldn't it be safer if you kept it at your home? Or… are you afraid Chelsea might see it?"

_No. _I said quickly. _That's not it. I just… don't want it anywhere near any of the humans. There's no telling what they might do with it if one of them finds it._

"And if Chelsea found it?"

_She won't!_

She frowned, clearly displeased with my outburst.

_I mean… _I faltered, trying to find a way to appease her, _of course she wouldn't find it…! Not with _you_ guarding it…! _

The Harvest Goddess shook her head. "Oh my… You've been talking with the Witch Princess for far too long, haven't you…? That would explain your recent trend towards bad manners!"

I shuffled my feet and looked away, trying my hardest not to look too guilty. _Of course I don't spend any time with her… She's terrible company. Yes! Awful!_

She frowned. Obviously, she knew me far too well… "Well then, if there's anything else…?"

I felt my previous anxiousness dissolve as I looked at her earnestly. _Is there?_

"You tell me."

I stared at her, but her cryptic expression remained. _So then… my plea has been answered…_

"If you no longer feel the need for ask for it, then yes, I would say that it has."

_But it can't be! She wasn't-she wasn't supposed to… She's so much like… _I looked at her, feeling desperate. _It just can't be true!_

"And why not…?"

_It's true… I'm no longer alone, but… every time I'm with her, I just feel… like I'm reopening all of those old wounds… _

Her face softened. "Lucario…"

_This is my destiny, isn't it? _I looked up at her, uncertain. _To prevent what I couldn't prevent… back then…_

"Your destiny is what you make it to be…"

And with that, she disappeared, her form dissolving into a sparkling, green mist.

I knew she couldn't maintain her form for too long in this world, but… why must she always disappear at the most inopportune times?

I fell to my knees, feeling both grateful and at a loss at the same time. Whatever my destiny was, I would not fail anyone ever again. I couldn't stand for anything less.

oOoOoOo

"Hi Lucario!"

The moment I stepped into the house, she was there, grinning at me. Honesty… it was… nauseating. Why on earth would she become so happy over the simple sight of me heading through the door…? You would think I had been away for six years… It just didn't make much sense.

_Yes, hello. Chelsea. _I tried to smile back, but it probably turned out looking more like a grimace than anything else. Forced smiling never had worked out well for me…

She smiled once again before seemingly disappearing. I paused a moment. The entire house smelled quite strange… Apparently, Chelsea had been busy while I was away... It looked like she had straightened and cleaned everything in sight. I was a bit stunned to see the place like this; throughout the entire time she had stayed here, Chelsea had mostly kept to herself, hardly moving or touching a thing. And now here she was, moving everything around and putting it all in different places, just to clean up what wasn't all that dirty in the first place. And that smell… did she just throw around a bunch of flowers in here?

"Here you go!"

My thoughts were abruptly cut off by her thrusting some kind of wool into my face.

"You're sopping wet! Use this to dry off before you get water all over the clean floor, huh?"

_Where did you get Mareep wool? _I sputtered, pulling the fabric away and inspecting it. _And why is it in this square format? What did you do to what would have been a perfectly decent piece of fluff? What's the point in altering it in such a manner?_

"It's called a towel, Crazy." Chelsea giggled in that irritating fashion of hers. "Here. Let me show you how to use it!" And with that, she shoved the 'towel' back into my face and scrubbed as if I were some kind of filthy Muk.

_Enough! _I managed to get away and seized the towel from her grasp. _I'll scrub myself; thank you!_

She left me alone to rid myself of the water at my own pace, in an obviously more calm and civilized fashion. While I was scrubbing, Azurill scampered over to me.

"Greetings, Sensei!" she called out, while saluting to me in an upright posture. "I have finished my duties and am ready to continue my training whenever you are, sir!"

I stopped scrubbing to stare at her; she was being absolutely ridiculous again. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that…!"

Her determined look quickly melted into a teary-eyed, pitiful one. She sniffed loudly, drawing Chelsea's attention.

"Are you fighting again?" she frowned at me.

_No. _I sneered at her before turning back to the water type. "In any case, I'm not going to train you today; it's raining too much."

"Oh, but I love the rain!" the little mouse Pokémon grinned at me, her tears so easily forgotten.

"Yeah, well, I don't." I answered shortly and headed for the bathroom to attend to my wounds. "And besides, my bandages start to fall off in this kind of weather."

"Why do you wear so many bandages?" Azurill asked curiously, following me. "Do you get in lots of fights? Oh! I bet you do! That's why you're so strong, isn't it, Sensei?"

"Yeah…" I replied, barely listening to her. "So, you get the day off. Be sure to go play and have lots of fun. And most important of all, stay out of my sight."

"Yes, Sensei!" she sang, running off somewhere else.

As I worked, I became aware of the fact that Chelsea was standing there, leaning against the doorframe and chewing on her lip thoughtfully. No doubt she wanted to ask me some sort of question. I probed her mind briefly to see that she was struggling to find a suitable way to do just that. And how am I not surprised…?

_What is it? _I asked irritably. If she was taking this long to say something, then there was no doubt that I was not going to like what she had to say.

She jumped, looking startled. "Oh, I—uh… I was just… I was wondering…"

_About? _

"Well, I…" she was looking around, as if the question she wanted to ask was located somewhere on the ceiling or walls. But then, she stopped suddenly, finally making eye contact with me. "Okay, listen. It's just… It's not normal for you to come home every day with injuries!"

I grunted in annoyance and resumed my work. She really didn't know how to give it a rest.

"I mean it, Lucario! I'm really worried about you, you know!"

_Well, you can forget about it. _I retorted, trying to rip the last bit of bandage away from the rest of the roll with my teeth. _I know how to take care of myself. _

She moved forward and placed a hand on my uninjured arm. "Look… I have to know… Are you… deliberately hurting yourself?"

_Don't be ridiculous. _I frowned at her. _Of course I do not! What on earth would something like that possibly accomplish?_

"Then I why do I get the feeling that you're lying to me when you tell me you've only been training?"

I pawed the roll of bandage nervously. _Of course I'm not lying. What would give you that ridiculous idea?_

"I don't know… I just feel… like you're not being entirely honest with me…"

I stole a glance at her. She couldn't possibly know. She was human; there was no way she would be able to detect anything like that. Or were humans more capable than I had ever realized?

She looked back at me and smiled. "You know what? You're right. I'm sorry I doubted you. I guess I was just worried, is all."

I winced when her hand suddenly came for me, but she merely ruffled the fur atop my head and walked away.

I paused, standing there alone with the roll of bandages. For some reason, I felt a small amount of guilt rising up in my stomach. However, I certainly couldn't explain to her what was truly happening; she would never be able understand it. But yet, it seemed as though _she_ believed _me_, trusted me even. Would it be possible to, one day, extend this trust she held for me and send some of it back to her? While I felt somewhat certain that she would not be malicious enough to give away my secret to anyone else, at the same time, I was not so certain what she herself would make of it. Would she approve of my conduct? Or would she ultimately side with the humans?

While I did feel as though Chelsea was quite different from the majority of them, the fact still remained: not a single human to date had approved of my conduct thus far; some whom I had never even seen before had openly attacked me, even though they had no connections whatsoever to those whom I was truly after. There was no doubt in my mind that both information and hatred spread quickly throughout their ranks. So would Chelsea be liable to succumb to it as well? And when it came right down to it, who would she align herself with? Me or her own kind?

While she had told me before that she disapproved of her own people, I had reason to believe she was beginning to change her mind in that regard. She had been spending an awful lot of time with the others living on the island lately. I had to admit, they treated Pokémon far better than most others, but yet, that one truly bothered me. The Pokémon dealer.

I had just set the roll of bandage back into its place when a new thought popped into my mind. The Pokémon dealer, of course! I could use _him_ as the ultimate test. If Chelsea was able to see through to his true colors, then I would trust her with my secret. Only then could I be certain that she truly was on my side…

Contented that that had finally been resolved, I headed out to see that Chelsea was wiping down the kitchen counter with another square of Mareep wool.

_What are you doing? _I moved closer to find that the Mareep cloth was emitting a strong and strange smell.

"Cleaning up." she answered nonchalantly.

_Really? I thought you would be finished with that by now… _

She looked up at me and frowned.

_What? The place already looks spotless to me…_

"Yeah… it's close. I've only got a little more to do before I'm finished."

_Oh. Should I do something?_

"Yeah!" She smiled brightly before disappearing and reappearing with a strange object in her hand. "You could dust for me."

_ Sure, I can do that. _I started to walk away, but then she pressed the object into my paws.

"Great! Use this!"

_What is it? _I stared. The top half looked to be covered in a vast array of colorful feathers, while the bottom half was nothing but an ordinary stick.

"It's a feather duster…"

_Humans use… _I waved the 'feather duster' slightly. _this… device… to rid their homes of dust?_

"Yeah… so what?" 

_ What a waste! How many feathers did you have to steal to make this! You must have plucked a Chatot clean!_

"Uh…" Chelsea looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Those are _man-made _feathers… No bird or Pokémon was harmed in the making of it; I'm pretty sure."

_Man-made? _I stared at the feathers and prodded them lightly. _How could humans _make_ feathers? It's impossible! They have no wings!_

Chelsea shrugged. "Look, I don't know; okay? I only bought it at the store. It was probably made in a factory; all right?"

_A factory? _I looked at her suspiciously. _What sort of place is that?_

"Never mind… Just try not to think about it; okay? Now could you just go over there and dust off the bookshelf, maybe?"

I reluctantly obeyed, grumbling under my breath. This 'feather duster' device still felt beyond useless to me. Whenever I wanted to get rid of dust, I just ran a paw over the object in question. That's all it took to take care of the problem.

However, I decided to try using the silly device Chelsea gave me. The only good that came out of it was that it allowed me to finally reach the top of the bookshelf. There was quite a lot of dust up there, since I had never bothered to clean something I couldn't see nor reach. Once all of the dust was on the floor, I decided to use the feather duster again in order to sweep it all into the trash bin.

From there, I went on to dust other surfaces, ultimately deciding to dust Chelsea's area last. I had just finished cleaning off her little electronic box when I noticed another, rather flat object lying next to it. I dusted that next, but I couldn't help but feel curious as to what it was. After cleaning it, I lifted it up to inspect it. It looked to be a rather thin box of sorts; when I opened it, I was surprised to find thin sheets that were white in color. The sheets were quite a bit filthy though; they looked like a Torchic had walked all over them with its dirty feet. I tried to coax the dirt off with the feather duster, but it did not work.

I looked over the object once more, trying to decide its worth. I had never seen it before, and since it was so filthy, I doubted it meant much to Chelsea. Deeming it worthless, I tossed it into the garbage can before heading back over to Chelsea.

"Oh, you're finished? Thanks!"

_No problem. Anything else?_

"Nope, I just need to empty the bathroom wastebasket into the main one here…"

But once she reached the main bin, she yelped, pulling out the same object I had thrown away earlier. "Who put-? What's my _diary _doing in here?"

_What? _I frowned, heading over to her. _That thing? It was filthy, so I threw it away._

"What are you-what are you _talking _about?"

_Look. _I moved closer, opened up that thin box, and gestured towards the Torchic scratches. _See? Filthy._

She quickly moved away, trying to press the box closed and keep it out of my sight. "You were _looking_ at it! How much of it did you see?" she demanded to know.

I shrugged. _Enough to know it was filthy. I tried dusting those marks off, but it wouldn't work. _

She sputtered, as if torn between confusion and anger. I really didn't know why she was so upset.

_Should I have tried harder to clean it before throwing it out? _I wondered.

"No… it's just…" she sighed, turning back to her box and leafing through it. She held it open in front of me. "What does this say?"

I stared at the markings, rather puzzled. _It doesn't _say _anything. It's just a box, so it cannot talk, of course._

"A book, you mean. A notebook, to be more precise." She said, gesturing at the markings again. "So you can't read this?"

_Read? What is that?_

She continued to stare at me, but eventually, her apparent suspicion seemed to wear off. "So, you can't read…"

_What is this, Chelsea? What are you talking about?_

"Well… besides speaking, humans have another way of communication…" she explained softly, folding up her 'notebook' once again. "And that is through written form. We mark little symbols down on paper in order to communicate ideas…"

_So those Torchic scratches…? _I began to put the pieces together, stunned at this new and potentially frightening discovery. _Those are words… marked down in notebooks instead of through speaking?_

"Yep, that's pretty much how it goes…"

I was appalled. No wonder humans could communicate so quickly and effectively… They didn't even need to see each other in order to pass along information! So then… just who exactly was Chelsea speaking to using _this _notebook?

_So why are you using this form of communication? _I asked her, feeling more than suspicious. _Just who are you speaking to through this manner?_

"Which brings me to my next point," Chelsea smiled slightly, "just because I'm writing something down, doesn't mean I'm going to share it with anyone. What I write in this notebook… I guess you could call it a one-way conversation with myself."

_What? But why? So that you can remember certain events when you go back to review it at later points in time?_

"I guess… though I mainly just use it to express myself… It's intensely personal, though, so… that's why I was a bit freaked out earlier… I thought you had read it."

_Ah, so you keep your secrets in there, do you? _

She laughed awkwardly, her face turning a strange shade of red. "No way! I don't have secrets, really!"

_Of course you don't. _I watched as she placed the notebook beneath her head cushion.

"So… uh… you were going to train with Azurill?" she asked, scratching her head and looking at me with that still-red face.

_No. I'm not so eager to spend the rest of the day out in the rain. _I pointed out as I watched her empty the bathroom waste bin into the main one. _What were you going to do?_

She straightened up, holding the smaller waste basket. "I was thinking of checking out the attic… I haven't been up there yet, and I figured a rainy day would be the perfect time to explore it!"

_There's nothing up there. Don't waste your time. _I told her as she disappeared into the bathroom. _Not even Rattata bother with it. _

She re-emerged. "Oh, come on! I'm sure there's got to be _something _up there!"

_Suit yourself. _I shrugged. She grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and dragged it into the little closet, where the entrance to the attic was located.

While she was busy with that, I walked over to the bookshelf. Only a scarce few amount of books were placed on the bottommost shelf. I had never bothered with them much before, but I did remember perusing them once, only to find that there were some pictures and strange symbols in them. Back then, I had only concerned myself with the pictures… Most of them had to do with farm tools and Pokémon… I used to wonder why my master would bother to keep something like this and ultimately leave it behind. But now that Chelsea had informed me of the written language, I became quite certain that these books were filled with words, messages. But about what?

I frowned, taking up a book and opening it. While looking it over, I was not surprised to see a picture of Mareep, along with several markings, similar to the ones in Chelsea's notebook, surrounding the picture. Did this book provide information about farming?

It bothered me that I could not know for certain.

I paused, hearing Chelsea rumbling around up in the attic. She had read these books before. She would take them with her to bed in the evenings, and when I awoke in the morning, I was always surprised to see that she would keep them beside her bed. At the time, I had merely assumed that she liked the pictures and had kept them with her so that she could have something to do before falling asleep. But now, I knew the truth. What sort of message had these books given to her?

The sounds from the attic became a bit louder, and they drew closer toward the closet. I quickly returned the book just before Chelsea came back, holding an odd object. She grinned, setting it onto the kitchen table. Both she and the object were covered in dust. "Look what I found!"

_What is it? _I stared at the new device suspiciously. It was fairly old; I remembered it used to sit on the shelf back when I was still fairly young. Though I had seen it before, I had never learned its purpose. _What does it do?_

Chelsea giggled. "Yeah, it's pretty much ancient technology, so I'm not surprised you wouldn't know about it… It's a music player. A really old one. A little record player!" She pulled out a flat, circular object from beneath the 'record player' and blew the dust off it.

… _What's music?_

"Oh man! You really don't know! Wow, then you're in for a treat! Just wait 'til I get this thing up and running!" She looked over the flat thing again and frowned. "Never heard of this band before, but it must be old, so I'm pretty sure it sucks… Oh well. At least you'll get to hear something though! I can't believe you haven't heard music before!"

_Chelsea… _I took a step backward. _I don't think… we should…_

She looked at me and then glanced down at herself. "Oh. Yeah… I guess I'm totally covered in dust. Yeah, I could use a shower first, huh? Just a minute! It shouldn't take me too long!"

She ran back to the closet, seizing some cloths before running off to the bathroom. I wanted to stop her, but I found my telepathy a bit strained.

Left alone with the 'music' player, I watched it apprehensively. Just what was it used for?

I didn't trust that record player. Chelsea had shown me some strange man-made objects before, but… this was something that belonged to my former master. Of all the things he had left behind, there were only a few things that I had trusted enough to keep. Everything else, I had destroyed. Some things, even though I felt quite certain that they were harmless, I destroyed anyway since they reminded me too much of him. That was why there was no more full-sized bed.

But this record player… I did not want it around. Just looking at it reminded me of things that I would rather forget, even though this object had never hurt me personally. But that didn't mean it still couldn't… I could still remember that time I had inadvertently stumbled upon a Pokémon trap. Even with my increased intake of Sitrus berries, it still took about a week for my leg to heal properly. I certainly did not want to re-live the experience.

"Hey Lucario!" Chelsea called out from within the bathroom. "Could you dust off that record player for me while I'm in the shower, please?"

I jumped. For a moment, I thought the record player was speaking to me.

I tried to answer her, but it seemed my telepathy was not working. Was I truly this afraid of an object so much smaller than myself? So much so that my telepathic powers were falling out of line? But that couldn't be… could it?

Careful not to get too close to the record player, I moved to retrieve the feather duster. Once it was in my hand, I turned back to look at that strange object. It hadn't moved.

I took a step closer towards it. It remained as it was. Still closer… it did not move.

I stretched my arm as far as I could, lightly knocking the dirt off with the duster. It seemed to work, and the record player did nothing to stop me. Feeling braver, I moved closer to finish the job. Once the task was complete, I moved back against the wall to wait for Chelsea to return. All the while, I made certain not to let the record player out of my sight. 

Eventually, Chelsea returned, but she looked… very different.

I wanted to exclaim, to shout at her, ask her what on earth had happened to her, but no words came. I struggled… Fear must have been blocking me out. But why was I so afraid? This _never_ happens!

Assuming nothing was wrong, Chelsea casually walked up to the record player. "Sorry for taking so long! But hey, now we can finally get this thing working!"

No!

I was still unable to speak with her, but I _had _to find some way to get her away from that thing. What if that device was indeed a trap? If it took me that long to heal, she wouldn't stand a chance against it…!

"Chelsea! Don't touch it!" Still unable to use telepathy, I tried Pokéspeak instead. Anything to capture her attention.

She looked over at me, utterly confused. I took her forearm and pulled, begging for her to move away from the record player all the while.

"Uh, what are you doing? What's going on?"

I shook my head and continued to plead with her, doing everything I could to lead her farther from the record player.

"And what are you growling at me for?" she started to pull away from my grasp, but I would not let her go.

"_Stop_ it!" she pulled and squirmed, but I refused to release my hold on her arm. "Let _go _of me already!"

Suddenly sensing a surge of fear emanating from her, I abruptly let go.

She rubbed her arm, looking at me with confusion and irritation. "What's your problem?"

I shook my head again, trying my best to explain to her with meager hand gestures that the record player had the potential of being dangerous.

She huffed, turning away. "Fine! Don't answer me!"

I sighed, feeling rather defeated. How could I convince her of anything if I couldn't speak to her?

Chelsea looked back at me for a moment before sighing and walking back over to the record player. I ran, only stopping right before the music player to block her from touching it. In my haste, I had moved closer to it than I had realized; the frigid metal was pressed against my back.

"What are you doing now?" Chelsea took a step backward, bewildered. "Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?"

I shook my head once more, but didn't bother to try using Pokéspeak again. After a moment, I suddenly realized that I was breathing quite heavily. Too heavily to be natural.

"Are you alright?" her eyes widened in concern. "Why are you breathing so funny?"

I bent down, resting my paws upon my knees. I felt as if I were gasping for air; my breathing felt so far off from any natural or sufficient rhythm, as though even the deepest of inhales wouldn't do much of anything for me.

"Lucario!" I could feel her guiding me away from the table, and thankfully, she herself did not move very close to me. "Slow down! Take deep, slow breaths, okay? Calm down!"

I did what I could to follow her instructions; with every deep, shuddering breath I took, I could begin to feel my heart rate calm as well. At long last, I felt my breathing normalize… A soft grip on my right paw squeezed slightly.

"Are you okay now?" Chelsea bent down so that she could look me in the eye.

I nodded slowly.

She pulled out a chair and directed me toward it. "Just rest for a second, okay?"

I sat, staring at the record player. She watched me for several minutes before her gaze turned to the record player as well. She stared at it a moment before turning back to me. "Now what happened?"

_I… _I rested my head upon my arms, relieved that I could speak again. _I don't know._

"I think you were having a panic attack…" she looked concerned. "Why?"

_Panic attack? Is that what humans call it?_

"Yes. Has it ever happened to you before?"

_Yes… But it was always in the presence of true danger or after it… But this time… nothing had even happened yet…_

"Yet?" she repeated, puzzled. "What is that supposed to mean?"

_I think that record player is dangerous. I didn't want it to hurt you…_

Chelsea's head jerked forward, her facial expression now looking even more confused. "The _record player_? You thought the _record player _was going to hurt me?"

_You don't understand… I've found Pokémon traps in this house before… I didn't want you to get hurt…_

"Oh, don't worry. I assure you: that record player can't hurt anybody. It's just a music player. It can't really do much else… It's sweet that you would care so much about me though…" she reached out to pet my head. "But you don't have to worry. It's only an ordinary household object. Is… that all you were worried about?"

I looked down at the table. _I remember that record player… It was… reminding me of things I'd rather forget… _I shook my head wildly. _But still! It makes no sense! Why would I become so panicked over such a simple object?_

"I guess repressed memories have a way of rearing their ugly heads somehow…"

_It disgusts me. To be rendered so useless… _

"… Oh! That's right! Your telepathy wasn't working, wasn't it? That's why you weren't saying anything to me!"

_Yes… I never knew that could happen. I suppose I've never tried to use telepathy before in such a situation…_

"Oh… poor Lucario… No wonder you were acting like that… I'm sorry I wasn't able to figure that out until now…" she stroked my arm with her hand. "But at least now, I'll know to look out for that from now on."

I shifted in my seat, moving away from her touch. _Now I wonder what happened to you._

"Me?"

_You look… different. _

"In what way?" she looked down at herself, confused. "Oh, are you talking about my pajamas? Yeah… my clothes were filthy, and I figured I wouldn't be going out anymore today anyway, so I changed into them a bit early. Is that… a problem?"

_What is… a pajama?_

"Clothes you wear while you're sleeping…"

_Clothes? _I looked at her in disbelief. _But I thought that stuff was a part of your body…!_

"No…! Just because I wear similar clothes every day, doesn't mean they're part of my body!"

_Hm. Well, why have you never worn these 'pajamas' before?_

"Well, I didn't the first night I stayed here… since I would have felt a bit awkward using your bathroom right away, I guess… And after that, I never wore them so that I could look halfway decent when Taro came to the door every morning. Now that he doesn't do that anymore, I figure I'm free to wear them now."

While she was busy explaining away, I left my chair to examine her true feet. I had always assumed human feet were white in color, and relatively similar to my own feet. But upon closer inspection, Chelsea's feet were not pure white at all; the skin had the same tone as her hands and face, and I noticed each foot had tiny little digits with fingernails on them.

_Wow… Human feet sure are ugly…_

Chelsea jumped away. "What are you doing, staring at my feet like that? Get away from me!"

I chuckled. _They look like a short and flat version of your hands!_

"Hey! My feet are small and cute! How dare you make fun of me! Some people's are really gross, you know!"

_I don't doubt that. _I turned away from her and faced the record player. _So then… _

She paused. "You want to hear it?"

I nodded.

She walked up to the contraption and began to wind a crank.

I winced slightly, uncertain. _So it makes noise? That's all it does?_

"That's all." She said softly. She placed the flat circular piece onto the top of the record player, just below the winding, metallic tubing. From there, she directed a strange stick to rest atop that circular disc.

After a few odd scratching sounds, a melody soon began to shoot from the tubes. I jumped back in surprise.

"Don't worry! It's nothing!" Chelsea exclaimed.

I nodded, listening carefully. This sound was familiar to me… I would often hear it at night or in the evening… but it was always so distant back then… It was odd to hear it so easily now.

After a moment, comprehension began to dawn on me. _Those are… Is that… _Humans_ are making this noise?_

Chelsea grinned. "Yup. It's opera. It's Italian, so you probably wouldn't be able to understand it. I know I can't, at least."

_There are other sounds too._

"Yep. Violins… cellos… It's an orchestra. A string orchestra, to be more precise."

_What are those? _The music, surprisingly enough, was soothing me. I was washed with a familiar warmth, just like during those pleasantly warm summer nights when I used to hear the music drifting out from my master's house. I could almost feel the summer breeze blowing against me, bringing that earthy, soft scent back into my memory. I remembered it so well now… I had been transported back to one of those rare times when I felt truly free.

"They're musical instruments." Chelsea explained. "People play them in order to make those sorts of sounds."

_So then, _I turned to her, _humans are the ones producing those sounds as well?_

She nodded.

_I never realized… how talented they could be._

She giggled. "You like it? Then, I can't wait to show you some of my own music! They're in English, so I'm sure you'll relate to them more!"

I looked at her, astounded. _You know how to make music?_

"Not really." She giggled again. "But I do have some more recordings of other people's music, kind of like this one here."

_Why didn't you show me before?_

She shrugged. "I didn't think you'd be into it. I guess I thought playing music out loud would bother you… I mean, you're pretty big on meditating, you know? I always pegged you as more of a 'peace and quiet' type of guy."

_I suppose that might make sense… if I were a 'guy' that is…._

oOoOoOo

Notes: Heheh, so this turned out to be much longer than I expected. I didn't want to break it up into two chapters, though.

So what did you think? Do you like reading from Lucario's perspective? About when did you realize it was Lucario who was narrating?

I normally don't like perspective changes, but I do think it can be fun, so long as it doesn't change within a single chapter. And yes, from now on, you'll be able to tell whose perspective it is based on the title of the chapter. :D

And as much as I like writing from Lucario's perspective, the fanfic will still primarily be in Chelsea's point of view, seeing as the story's title ends in a question mark. XD

Thanks for reading!


	12. Questions for Me Now?

Spring 8

Questions for me now?

"So, are you ready to give some modern music a try?" I asked, heading over for my bag.

_So this… _he paused, looking rather skeptical, _this would be music that _you_ enjoy?_

"Yeah! What are you looking all worried for? Of course I have great taste!" I assured him as I pulled out my music player and started to untangle the cords for the earphones. "Now, I actually only have a personal player, so… you'll only be able to hear it if you use these earphones here…"

_So what does that mean? _He asked, looking at it with definite confusion.

"Not much; just that you'll have to…" I paused, looking from the earbuds in my hands to Lucario's ears and back again. Now how was that going to work? "Uh…"

_What?_

"You're supposed to, uh, put these in your ears…"

_Why would I do that? That sounds both incredibly stupid and painful. _He looked at me as if I were insane. _If you really want it inside me, wouldn't it be easier if I simply ate it?_

"Oh no, no. It's more… Look; it's like this, okay?" I placed it in my own ear to demonstrate. "See? It fits my ears perfectly… But maybe it'll work for you too… if I just kind of set it near your ear…or something…"

_No! _He immediately jumped away. _That's just too weird; I've changed my mind!_

"Just chill out. I promise you'll be fine; now just hold still so I can try and-"

_But what are you going to do with that? _He gestured towards the cord.

_"_Nothing! Now quit moving! I want to see if I can make this work…!"

Once he finally held relatively still, I carefully set the earphones into place… as well as I could, anyway.

Lucario looked up at me with a rather pained expression on his face. _It feels… strange…_

"Yeah… It takes some getting used to… I guess…" I shrugged, not quite sure what else to say. "So, are you ready?"

_I suppose…_

"Okay, here goes…"

The second after I pressed 'play,' Lucario clutched his head and started yelling.

"Oops!" I quickly lowered the volume. "Sorry, I guess I had it a bit loud…"

_A _bit_? _He roared in indignation. _What were you trying to do? _Destroy_ my hearing? You _idiot_! I could have gone deaf!_

"I think you might be… over-reacting…" I sighed and decided to lower the volume completely for the moment; he was obviously too carried away to pay much attention to any of that now.

Over-_reacting? You're _under-_reacting! Obviously, my senses are _far _more acute than yours; you could have completely _fried _them with that auditory overload you call 'modern music!'_

"Yeah, but I didn't, right?" I smiled dumbly.

He snarled, probably too angry to formulate any other response.

"Alright; I'm sorry… I didn't know that was going to happen… Don't be all mad…"

He huffed and turned away.

I paused for a few minutes, waiting for him to calm down. "So… you feeling better now? You still want to listen to the music?"

_Of course I do not! It's too loud!_

"I can adjust the volume…"

…_Fine. Make it very soft. Even that might be too much._

"Okay… so how's that?" No doubt it was hardly audible now.

_Manageable. _He said stubbornly.

"Okayyyy…" I tried to suppress a smile. My own voice had to be louder than that setting… "Whatever you say, Lucario… I just hope it doesn't completely destroy those delicate little senses you have there…"

_Be quiet! _He snapped.

Figuring that was enough teasing for now, I raised the volume a bit more for him and moved to relax a bit on the sofa. I tugged slightly on the cord to get Lucario's attention and gestured toward the empty space beside me. But he waved me off with an irritated look on his face and remained standing. Seriously… he had to be the only one I knew who would actually listen to music while just standing there in place.

So I handed to music player over to him and waited. As he listened, his expression looked rather focused, as if he were intently studying something resting on the wall. Eventually, I followed his gaze to see whether he actually was staring at something, but it was just an empty space on the wall.

I leaned back and nestled against the armrest, contentedly listening to the steady rainfall and the soft buzzing of the headset. I was only just starting to doze off when something started repeatedly tapping me on the head. I looked up to see Lucario looking at me expectantly and waving the music player in my face. _The music stopped!_

"What? Oh? I think it just… yeah, the batteries are toast…"

_What? This thing runs on toast?_

"No, I meant to say that there's no power left. It won't work anymore until I get some new batteries."

_Oh. So that means… _He cursed softly. _When will it work again?_

"Later… I'll try and get some more tomorrow, maybe… But what did you think of it so far? You liked it?"

_It was… surprising... _he replied thoughtfully. _I didn't expect for humans to… feel that way. It sounds as though… well… _he trailed off, fidgeting for some reason. _Ah, forget it. Yes, I liked it a bit. It was good enough. _

"Good enough?" I repeated, trying not to laugh. "It's okay if you like it, you know. You don't have to fake like you hate it just to be 'cool' or something… I mean, really… That's just what I would call annoying."

_Oh, yes, Chelsea, that music was wonderful. _ He droned, drawing out the last few syllables obnoxiously. _Is that enough to satisfy you? And will you relieve me of these weird clips or whatever-they're-called? _He asked, pointing at his ears.

"Sure thing. And yes, you don't have to worry; it's totally safe for you to pull them out yourself too." I chuckled, reaching to take them out and ruffle his head. "But really? What were you about to say before? What don't you expect humans to feel like?"

_I don't know. _Lucario admitted, suddenly plopping down beside me on the sofa. _I always assumed humans were masters of their own destinies. They are the ones who call all the shots, all the time; they shouldn't feel like I do._

I wasn't certain whether to feel more confused about the fact that Lucario was actually sitting next to me or by what he was trying to say. "…Uh… What do you mean by that?"

_Well… it's hard to explain… _

"That's okay. Take all the time you need." I replied, leaning back and curling up my legs for some extra warmth. In doing so, I accidently nudged against Lucario. Judging by the odd look on his face, he seemed to be a bit offended. "Sorry."

_Stop apologizing to me!_

"Uh… why? What's the big deal?"

_Just stop it! I've had enough of it already! You do it all the time, and it's just so weird that it's become irritating! Just quit!_

"Okay… Whatever… I'm sorry to—er, I mean—agh…"

_You're doing it on purpose now! You're just taunting me…!_

I slapped my hand to my forehead and sighed. "For what… _purpose_? Do you honestly think I get some kind of kick out of making you act all crazy all the time?"

He stubbornly folded his arms over his chest. _Humans have sick senses of humor. You do it all for your own, twisted amusement. _

"You're just… absolutely… _impossible_!" I wanted to shove him. "I just don't know how _anyone _is able to deal with you!"

He sniffed. _Same goes for you._

I collapsed back into the sofa, suddenly feeling exhausted. "So then… that makes… two of us. Two impossible… beings."

_Yeah… But you're worse, you know._

"If I am… it's your fault."

_Or it's yours, and you just don't even realize it yet._

I glared at him, utterly annoyed. He grinned back smugly; that smirk of his grew wider as the seconds passed.

"I don't know whether to laugh or try to hit you."

_You just never know, do you? _He quipped, leaning back in his seat.

I continued to watch him, not quite certain how to respond to that. He remained silent, and eventually, I became aware of how strange it was to see him relaxing. It hardly ever happened, at least not while he was indoors.

Regardless, I decided to focus my attention elsewhere, on other questions that needed answering…

Spring 9

I had that dream again.

I want to move on, but I'm stuck. I have to leave; there's no time left, but…

I gripped the sheets to keep my hands from shaking. This was just too much.

I got up and made my way outside. The skies were clear; apparently the rainfall had ended hours ago. Even though there wasn't a cloud in sight, the moon was hardly noticeable, hardly much larger than a crescent.

Swinging my legs over the edge of the island, I gazed down at the water below me. The waves were relatively soft; every now and again, the meager light of the moon would sparkle along the peaks of the tiny crests.

It was strange. I was used to smelling the dampness of the earth after a long rainfall, but here, all I could smell was that faint, continuous essence of salt. I missed that old and familiar smell, but in a way, I didn't. It probably would have brought along more painful memories than pleasant ones.

A flash of blue against the comparatively dark waves broke me out of my trance. I whirled around, not surprised to see it was Lucario. His gaze seemed to be focused on the water as well; he didn't look up even now. _Did I startle you this time? _He asked, still not looking away from the waves.

"Just a little, but it's fine… What are you doing up?"

_I'm always awake at this time… _he answered.

"Always? Do you have insomnia or something?"

_No. This is just the time where I typically begin my training for the day since I… prefer to train in the dark. _He paused, and then finally met my gaze. _But why are you awake? Did you have a dream?_

"Yeah…" I admitted, drawing my knees up closer to my chest. "How did you know?"

He smiled cryptically. _Lucky guess._

I frowned, looking back down at the water. If he knew that much, he might as well know the rest of it. "It seems I've been having the same dream, over and over again."

_Are you haunted by something?_

I jumped, a bit startled by the abruptness of the question. "Uh… no. No, of course not." I replied, quickly staring at the ground.

An irritated sigh escaped him.

_Look, Chelsea._

Two black feet stepped into view on my right.

_You've asked _me _plenty of questions. I think it's about time _you _answered mine_.

I looked up at him, irritated. "I just _did_!"

_No, you were only lying to me!_

I turned away. "I was _not_!"

_You _are! _Now stop it!_

"How would you even know, anyway? I mean, it's not like you're…" I trailed off, realizing my own mistake. He basically _was _psychic… that irritating little jerk.

_As much as your haywire thoughts confuse me, your lies certainly do not. Even if I didn't have Aura on my side, I'm still not stupid. Face it; you're a horrible liar, so you might as well give up and start answering me honestly._

"So what? You're going to interrogate me now? Is that it?"

He sat down facing me and smirked. _You better believe it. It's your turn now. _

I turned away. "I hate you, you know that? Just go away and leave me _alone_! You're irritating me, and you're _crazy_ too! I'm better off without you here! All you do is annoy me and make everything worse!"

_Don't lie now, Chelsea…!_

"Don't flatter yourself!"

_If I don't, will you hear me out?_

I didn't respond.

After a moment's pause, he took a breath and began. _I will admit, Chelsea, as much as your incessant questioning irritated me at first, there was also a point where I began to realize… well… talking with you about my past started to help me accept it. Granted, I have told others before you, but… well, explaining everything from the beginning to a total amateur such as yourself really helped me to… Ah, forget it! This is too difficult to explain! The point is, I felt better about myself after I spoke with you. I mean, you were utterly annoying and all, but it did feel… well, 'nice' that you were interested enough in me to ask so many questions… Yes, so it all wasn't as bad as it initially seemed... I think… _

He took a long pause. _Well, I suppose I'm trying to say that I would like to do the same for you. So with all this in mind, would you allow me to interrogate you?_

I looked back at him, slightly stunned and confused.

He waited, still sitting there watching me with an awkward-looking smile on his face. It seemed he was using his best efforts to be friendly.

I started to laugh.

He backed away, looking affronted. _After all that, you just sit there, and you _laugh _at me? I went to all these measures to reassure you, and you just think this is all some kind of _joke_!_

"No, no; I don't mean it like that at all! It's just… you're so cute, you know?"

Exasperated, he held his face in his palm. _Obviously… nothing I said even registered with you._

"No, it did! I guess I was just surprised... I didn't expect for you to be this sweet!"

_You're such… an idiot… _he grumbled, burying his face in his paws.

"Hey! You lectured me about lying, and now you're starting off on it…!"

_Enough. _He declared, looking up at me. _Are you ready to proceed with the interrogation or not?_

I stifled a small laugh. "Could we call it a 'conversation' instead? I mean, an 'interrogation' sounds a bit—"

_Call it what you will! _He exclaimed, holding up his hands in defeat. _Now answer me honestly: is there something haunting you?_

My smile faded. "Well… you know what? Let's just… forget it, okay? I don't really want to talk about this…"

_Stop avoiding the issue. I think you will need to face this eventually. Better now than later. Like I said, it's awkward at first, but I think you'll feel better later. Just go to the heart of the problem and describe it to me. _

"That's easier said than done…" I frowned, hugging my knees tightly. "Just forget about it."

_If only you could forget… everything… _Lucario grimaced. _But you can't. Nothing in life is supposed to be easy! Just face it now and be done with it!_

I turned away from him; the pressure was practically crushing me. How could I face my problem if I hardly even knew what it was? This was just too much! I couldn't… How could I describe something I didn't even know?

_You do not make any sense! _Lucario announced suddenly.

Confused, I looked over at him to see that the black tendrils on the back of his head were floating on end. Some kind of weird, bluish light was seemingly all around him. I was almost frightened for a moment, until I realized what was happening.

"You can't just read my mind and find out all the answers, Lucario! _I _don't even know what's wrong with me; what makes you think _you_ can figure it out?"

_You _do _know! _His crimson eyes flashed. _Stop trying to deceive yourself and just face it! Forget about addressing your problems! First you need to admit they exist!_

I stammered, struggling to reply. Somehow, I knew he was right, but… I couldn't…

"I just-I think I need to leave here, Lucario…"

_Leave? _He repeated, confused. That bluish light faded, and suddenly, his tendrils were back to normal. It was as if the last few minutes had never happened. _But why?_

"I don't… know…" I reverted back to my previous position as well, wrapping my arms around my legs.

_You don't like it here?_

"No… I do… it's just…"

_What? _

"Sometimes it's not… always just my choice… that I need to take into account…"

_Why shouldn't it be? _He paused. _Do you have a child?_

"No. Of course not."

_Then why shouldn't it be your choice and yours alone? Who else would need to be taken into account? _

I hesitated, staring out at the sea. "Do you want to know why I left the city and chose to come here? The real reason?"

He nodded silently.

"It's because I wanted to start over! I wanted to forget the past and everything connected to it! When I left…" I stopped, suddenly incredibly nervous. I hadn't told anyone this. And now, here I was, spilling my guts out to a half-crazy Lucario, someone who, surprisingly enough, was starting to become a close friend. I hardly even knew what I was doing at this point. How could I trust him with this? I hardly even knew him… But yet, here I was.

"When I left…" I repeated, swallowing my doubts, "I didn't tell anyone. Not a single soul. I just quietly gave up my apartment, took my last paycheck, and left. Without a word."

Lucario was silent for a long time. Eventually, he stirred, his ears twitching slightly before he asked his next question. _Where are your parents, Chelsea?_

I said nothing.

He waited without looking at me. _So it's too sore of a subject for you right now, is it? _He asked eventually, his tendrils twitching. I stared, but resisted the urge to ask about them.

_Another question then. _He continued, nodding just slightly. _Why did you choose this place, out of all others in the world? Sure, it's quiet and out-of-the-way... an easy place to hide, but I'm certain there are other secluded places, areas far different from this one here. Why did you choose to live here?_

"To be honest…" I smiled, drooping my head in embarrassment, "it's been a dream of mine to live on a farm. There were a few outside of the city I lived in, and I always wanted to go and visit… I wanted to live in and around nature. That's where I feel content and satisfied. I knew I could live that way here."

_If that's so then… why were you living in the city before you came here? Why didn't you immediately move to one of those closer farms once you came of age to care for yourself?_

"Well, basically, that wasn't…" I paused, glancing downwards. "…what my parents wanted for me."

_Ah! _He said suddenly; his tendrils fluttered upwards for several moments, as if a strong gust of wind had blown up from behind him. _You came here to escape your parents' expectations of you._

"No, that's not it!"

_It is! It's so obvious now; I should have seen it before! _He looked at me, those tendrils standing on end again. _So that's what you've been hiding for so long…_

"It's not that I wanted to hide it…" I looked away from him. "It's more… that I didn't want to admit it to myself…"

_ But now that you have, you're no longer left feeling haunted. _

"Not… exactly…" I trailed off.

_What is it?_

"My parents… they aren't clueless, you know. They're eventually going to figure everything out and come after me… They'll want me to return… back to the city… That's why I wanted to leave… before they find me."

_Do you want to leave for any reason other than that?_

"No…" 

_ Then why leave? Unless you want to return with them and head back to the city you lived in?_

"…No. I don't want to do that."

_Then don't. Stand your ground here and convince them otherwise. _

"So much easier said than done…"

Lucario paused, looking quite thoughtful. _Would you like me to scare them off?_ _I could very easily do that, you know… I could hide right up there on the roof and then leap down at the proper moment, breathing fire and everything! If your parents started to run away, I could chase them around for a little while too, just to add a nice touch…_

I chuckled, just imagining the situation. "As funny as that might be, I don't think it would work. I honestly don't need my parents thinking this place is any more dangerous than it already is…"

_Yes, I suppose… _Lucario trailed off, thoughtful once more. _But it can't be much worse than the city… judging by what I've seen of it so far…_

That certainly caught my attention. "What did you just say?" I asked, blinking rapidly.

_Judging by what I've seen of it so far… _he repeated, reaching over and tapping my head, _based on your memories of it…_

I backed away. "What did you see?"

_Relax. It's nothing you haven't shown me yourself, by thinking of it yourself at the time._

"_When_?"

_That day I… _he trailed off, sheepish, _took notice of the Pokéball and immediately, but falsely, suspected you of deception. The memories that erupted out of you that day… were quite eye-opening for me. I didn't expect for humans to be violent to each other as well; I had always assumed that all their anger was always directed towards Pokémon alone. I didn't think they would attack their own kind in such a manner… That realization shocked me enough that I was forced to see my own mistake, my foolishness in treating you in that same manner. It was wrong of me… And that's what led me to formulate that theory of a continuous and ongoing cycle of hatred… Hate seems to always breed hate, even if I don't want it to. But I'm going to make conscious efforts against that, I assure you._

I rested my chin on my knees, suddenly feeling drained. So basically, he already knew much more about me than anyone else in the world, even my own parents. I might as well be an open book now.

"I did have some pretty rough times back there in the city…"I admitted finally. "It certainly wasn't one of the best places to live…"

_Then why did you live there? _Lucario asked, confused. _And more importantly, why would your parents allow you to live there but not here? If anything, it sounds as though the city is far more dangerous than these islands are… Humans are far better at causing pain and humiliation for their targets than any Pokémon out there ever is. Violence for Pokémon is primarily based on… survival. _

I sighed. "My parents deem a job in the city to be more profitable and more… appropriate for someone like me. I had a fairly well-paying job over there, but to me, it just wasn't worth it. I wasn't happy there. That's why I decided… that I don't want to be successful anymore. I decided to I wanted to live a simple life. That's part of what led me to make the decision to come here."

_You don't want to be successful… anymore? _He repeated, baffled. _But why can't you be successful here, as a farmer and rancher?_

I didn't look at him. "Isn't it obvious?"

_Well… no…_

"This is a man's job!" I exclaimed, frustrated that he could be so dense. "I mean, yes, I appreciate the fact that everyone has pretended that things like this don't matter, but… we all know it won't take long before my limits start to become apparent! I just can't do this as well as someone else could! I know it; you know it; my parents know it! Everyone does! Even if they don't say it, they _know _it!"

Lucario merely stared at me for several moments, his expression unreadable. _Do you honestly believe that?_

"Yes… er, no… Well… I don't know…"

_Well, I don't believe it. _He announced, folding his arms over his chest in that obstinate way of his. _And I certainly hope _you _don't either. Half of a human's power lies within the mind. Or rather, more than half. If you believe you can be successful here, then I know you will be. And until you believe in your own strength, you certainly don't stand a chance in convincing your parents of anything. _

I stared at the ground, blinking rapidly and feeling more than a bit stunned. Was that true? Were my own assumptions about myself limiting my own potential?My own life?

_And Chelsea, _he continued after a short pause, _please know that you don't have to do everything yourself. Even the most powerful of humans can't do much of anything without some sort of support from someone or something else. Don't expect to do anything yourself; I can help you, and Azurill will as well, I'm sure. And as the farm grows, others can assist us as well. We'll all work together to make this place a success… as long as you're fair to us._

"Of course..." I nodded, smiling softly. "And thank you, Lucario. I appreciate all that you've been saying to me… especially after how I treated you earlier. I take all that back; I would apologize for it too, but you'd only get angry by that, right?"

_Don't mention it. And don't apologize either. I don't want to hear it. _He answered, rising. _Just… keep some of what I've told you in mind… but leave out all the cheesy parts. _

"Hey, you weren't cheesy!" I exclaimed. I rose as well, just barely resisting an overwhelming urge to hug him. "Actually, I think you're pretty smart."

_Well, yes, _Lucario nodded with mock pride. _I suppose I can't deny that… _

"No really! I mean it!" I chuckled, swatting him lightly on the arm. "It was nice of you to talk with me, and yes, I admit you're right; I am feeling better. You've given me a lot to think about as well... I think after I sort things out in my mind, my parents might be easier to face… at least a little bit easier."

_That's good. You will find your confidence if you give yourself some time. For what it's worth, I believe in you._

I gazed at him, speechless. This sweet side of Lucario… why hadn't I seen it before?

He headed up to the door and rested an arm beside it. _But for now, you should get some rest. Because obviously, being the naturally delicate human that you are, you need more of it._

Oh yeah… that was why.

"Okay…" I rolled my eyes. "I am tired; I'll give you that."

_Well, and, before you go… _Lucario spoke up, looking slightly sheepish. _I have to say that if you ever did decide to leave, I don't think it would be good for Azurill. She would miss you a lot, much more than you may realize. _

"Oh, I would miss her too." I informed him, nodding. "But I don't intend on leaving here anytime soon. I'm going to do… everything in my power to stay. So... she won't have to worry."

He nodded.

I waited, watching him expectantly. "I would miss you too." I finally told him, grinning.

_Yeah… _he groaned. _I might miss you too… You have… grown on me a little… But Azurill! You really need to consider her feelings; she's only a child._

"Of course! You know I will!" I beamed, suddenly reaching out and catching him in a hug.

_Yes, okay…! Now stay back! _He cried before slipping out of my grasp.

"Fine…" I moved back to the door. "Take care of yourself while you're training, okay? Azurill would miss you too if something were to happen to you."

_Yes, she might. But don't bother worrying about me. I'm fine. _He answered and took off, his form already a blur.

I paused for a moment to consider all this and began to wonder: why was he so eager to train in the dead of night, anyway? And where was he going? Why couldn't he train right here on this island? There was plenty of empty space here, considering the scant few crops I had planted so far. This place worked well enough for Azurill's training, after all.

As I pondered these questions, a revealing reflection surfaced in my mind. Lucario had said before that the forested island was dangerous at this time of night… maybe he trained there, just for the challenge and for the danger?

I felt reasonably confident that Lucario could take care of himself, but, then again, the fact that he came home with wounds every single day troubled me…

I had to know more about that forest.

In addition to tackling my own problems and worries…

oOoOoOo

Notes: Whew, it's done! I'm thinking the next few chapters will break away from the angst for a while, though we'll probably return to it again soon enough…

Ah well, I don't write angst very often, so I guess it's good practice at least.

Thanks for reading and thank you for your comments, favorites, and alerts!

Until next time!


	13. So Fishing isn't Dangerous?

Spring 9

So Fishing isn't Dangerous?

I was just munching on some breakfast when I heard a hearty knock on the door. Tossing the rest of my rice ball to Azurill, I hurried over to answer it. I had assumed it would be Julia, or maybe Natalie and Elliot, but the person at the door turned out to be a new face entirely.

He was a guy around my age, beaming at me with just the friendliest of expressions on his face. He casually brushed aside some chocolate-colored curls before opening his mouth.

"Hi there!" he greeted brightly, flashing another smile. "I'm Denny! I've just moved in this morning, so I thought I'd stop on by and introduce myself! What's your name?"

A guy who was both friendly _and_ cute? On these practically deserted islands! What were the chances of that?

And he was… even wearing a bandana!

"Hi, I'm-I'm Chelsea!" I finally replied, beaming in return. "It's really nice to meet you!"

"So you're the rancher I've heard about?" he asked, looking about the island. "That's pretty cool, you know, to tackle such a huge job all on your own. But I hope you'd still have time for fishing! You like to fish, right?"

I was nodding rather enthusiastically, but this sudden question threw me off guard. After pondering it a moment, I frowned. "Sure… I used to, but… isn't it kind of dangerous to fish around these parts? I mean, once I almost got creamed by a crazy sea serpent-type-thing…! What was it? Gara-something?"

"Fishing? Dangerous? Why would you…?" he frowned, confused. But after a few moments, he brightened in understanding. "Oh! You must be-Yeah! You've only fished around here then, am I right?"

"Well, yeah…"

"The currents around this island here…" he explained, gesturing around himself. "…bring in Pokémon. The currents down at the beach, however, they bring in regular fish. You know, Mackerels, Sea Bass, and stuff. The kind you can actually eat!"

"Really?" I asked, brightening. "This is great! I've been wanting to cook up a real fish dinner!"

"Ha! Is that so?" Denny grinned. "Awesome! You want me to give you any pointers on anything? Better yet, why don't the two of us fish together sometime? I bet hanging out and fishing with a pretty girl like you would be a blast!"

"Pointers?" I repeated. "Are you a fisherman then?"

"You bet!" he grinned. "That's why I've come to the Sunshine Islands! I've heard the fishing's great!"

"Oh yeah… That would make sense…" I acknowledged, finally understanding why he had so suddenly asked me about fishing in the first place.

"Well…" he looked a bit hesitant, "I should probably admit that I'm only just starting out, really. But now that I've finally saved up the money to come here, you better believe I'm gonna give it my all!"

"Give it my all!" a sudden voice chirped.

I jumped, startled. I hadn't even noticed up until now, but a rather large parrot was resting on Denny's shoulder. It winked at me before clacking its tongue. "So you're a fisherman?" it questioned.

"This…" Denny smiled lightly, tilting his head towards his bird. "…is Popper. He can be pretty annoying sometimes, so don't pay him too much mind…"

"Oh no; I think he's cute!" I broke in, smiling at the bird. "Could I pet him?"

"Heh, try living with him… I think then you might change your mind…" he answered, shaking his head though he had a smile on his face. "But you can go ahead and pet him; he only bites me."

I chuckled, reaching over to pet his back. His feathers were very soft and colorful, though the feathers on his head were entirely black. In fact, now that I thought on it, the bird's head itself looked like a music note.

"Popper is a Chatot." Denny explained after I moved back. "I've had him ever since I turned ten. He's my first and only Pokémon."

"Okay…" I said slowly, truly having no idea what he was talking about.

"Yeah… I used to want to be a Pokémon Trainer, but that didn't really work out…" he informed me, stretching lightly. "I prefer fishing now though. I've always wanted to settle down somewhere rather than just wander around all over like Trainers so often do."

"Sure…" I decided to just agree with him. "But what's a Pokémon Trainer, anyway?"

He cocked his head to the side, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You mean… you really don't know?"

"Um… no…"

"Have you… always lived on these islands?"

"No, I just moved in a little more than a week ago. I honestly didn't even know about Pokémon at all until I came here."

"Oh… that explains it. You must have lived _pretty_ far away then..."

"Yeah… I kind of did…"

"Well, don't you worry about it!" Denny nodded, beaming once again. "I can tell you all about Pokémon training! If you want to take me up on that fishing offer, I could tell you all about it while we fish. That'll make it less boring, I hope."

"Hey, of course! I would love that! Thank you!"

"No problem! You want to meet up today?"

"Sure!"

"I'll be a bit busy this morning, unpacking and all, but I do want to get started on fishing as soon as I can... Well, and I bet you've got farming business to take care of anyway, so feel free to stop by whenever you're done with all of that. Yeah, I should be down at the dock by then, so you can come on over whenever you're up for it."

"Okay! That sounds great! I'll see you then!"

"Cool! I'll be waiting for ya!"

After closing the door, I momentarily leaned against it and exhaled contentedly. Azurill, finally finished with the rice, hopped on over and stared at me.

I smiled at her. "How is it so easy to make friends here? Honestly, back where I used to live, it'd take weeks before anyone would even look at me, let alone talk!"

Azurill tilted her little head to the side, blinking. After a few seconds of holding this pose, she began to bounce on her tail, happily squealing her name over and over again.

After gazing after her for a few moments longer, I found myself a bit lost in thought...

I couldn't help but wonder how Lucario might react if he too had the chance to meet people like Julia and Denny. Maybe if he even met Popper… would it change his perception of the human race, even just slightly?

Heck, if the people who populate this island now had been the original inhabitants, would Lucario have wound up with the same attitude he has now? Well… there really wasn't any way of knowing for certain...

It wasn't until Azurill suddenly leapt into the open tool box that I was startled enough to break out of my reverie.

"Azurill! What are you doing? There's sharp stuff in there!" I exclaimed, hurriedly fishing her out and setting her back on the ground. "I know you're excited, but really! _Don't_ do that!"

Hardly recognizing the potential severity of her previous situation, little Azurill merely bounced away, giggling happily.

As I watched her, I couldn't help but drift into another stream of thoughts. Maybe always being so happy-go-lucky had its own set of weaknesses as well…

But I hurriedly shook my head, abandoning all of that for now. "The crops are waiting, Azurill! We should probably get started!"

oOoOoOo

"Ah, hey Lucario! You're finally back!"

I poured out some water into the dog bowl for Azurill before filling my own glass. The little one quickly lapped up the water exactly like a kitten would.

"Are you thirsty too?" I asked Lucario, turning towards him and holding out the water pitcher.

_No. _he replied flatly, suddenly dropping a bunch of papers on the table.

"What's that stuff?"

He gave me a rather annoyed look, one that I was now pretty much accustomed to seeing. _Mail. Apparently it's a human custom. I assume it's not something you have in the city… seeing as you've left this in the mailbox for over a week now. _

"Oh, really? I didn't think they'd have mail delivery here… That's kind of why I haven't ever checked it yet."

_Why wouldn't they? _Lucario gave me a funny look. _Anyone can put paper in a mailbox. It's not difficult._

"Yeah… I guess… It's just that in the city, it's usually delivered by a-ah whatever! What did I get anyway?"

Surprisingly enough, it was just a calendar. Someone had drawn some faces within some of the dates, and I was surprised to find that a small portrait of my own face rested on my birthdate. As I was shuffling through it, a small paper floated to the ground.

Lucario immediately pounced on it. _Hmm… _he murmured, holding it close to his face. _There is plenty of scribbling here… or is this the_ written _language? _He questioned with a rather accusatory tone.

I rolled my eyes. "Let me see it."

It was a little note, written in a childish scrawl:

_Hi lady!_

_Thanks for being our first customer! My dad wanted to give you a prize, so we got you this! _

_I put everyone's birthday on it too! You like my drawings?_

_When the town gets bigger, just ask and I'll draw some more! _

_Visit our shop a lot, okay?_

_From,_

_Charlie_

"Aww!"

Lucario looked disgusted. _What? _

"It's from Charlie and his dad!" I explained, smiling broadly. "Look at these pictures! Charlie drew them! Aren't they cute?"

_Who is Charlie? _

"He's the little boy from the store! The place next to old man Taro's house!"

_Little… boy? _Lucario repeated, looking pained. He draped his paws over his eyes in clear exasperation. _Now they're bringing in _children_ too! _

"Oh come on, Lucario! These people aren't so bad!"

_You say that now… _Lucario shook his head, backing away slightly. _But it's only a matter of time before more and more arrive! And then… they multiply! Humans are even worse than weeds, you know! Actually, they're more like a contagious disease!_

"Lucario!" I exclaimed, cutting him off. "Not everyone is as bad as you think! In fact, I think you should chill out and actually _meet_ some of them! Maybe that will put an end to your annoying paranoia once and for all!"

Lucario let out a short, mirthless laugh. _You honestly think you know what you're talking about, don't you? But you couldn't be more wrong. I know exactly how these humans are; they're all the same! _

"They are _not_!" I cried out, furious. "For crying out loud, all it takes is _one person_! If I could show you _one person _who_ isn't_ like how you say, then your whole theory is worthless!" 

_ All right... _Lucario closed his eyes and definitively placed a paw on the table as if to acknowledge my point, though he still had that superior-looking smirk on his face. _Perhaps I should rephrase myself… _Many _of the humans are all the same. _Many _of them take complete advantage of Pokémon in order to better their own lives. There are only a small few who live in accordance with nature. But yes, you are right in that… _one_ respect. I'll admit there are a few humans who _do_ live peaceably amongst Pokémon. _

"And these people would be?"

His eyes opened. _Would you like to meet them?_

"Well, yeah! Definitely! Maybe I'll finally be able to learn something about getting on your good side…! I mean, really! I was starting to think that would never happen!"

_Don't make me laugh. _Lucario headed towards the bathroom, most likely to attend to those fresh wounds. _No amount of training could ever make _you_ decent._

"Hey! It's not like _you're_ an expert on the subject! You could use some training yourself!"

At the sound of the word 'training,' he halted in his tracks, turning around to face me and looking more than a bit bothered.

Expecting a comeback and still not receiving one, I simply gazed back at him until he turned away to attend to his business.

Well, that was awkward… What it something I said?

Pushing aside my confusion for now, I turned back to the calendar to admire Charlie's drawings of the townsfolk. Seeing as I had made my first purchase quite some time ago, there weren't too many. But looking them over again had me wondering: when might Lucario's birthday be? Which also lead me to wonder: how old was he anyway?

I knew Azurill was very young, so young that it was rather likely she didn't know when her birthday even was. But Lucario, surely he would know. I mean, I doubted he was a baby or anything like that… but you can never be too sure… Maybe he was really old. That might explain his usual grumpy attitude…

"Hey, uh… Lucario?" I tentatively stepped near the threshold to the bathroom. "Can I ask you something?"

He stopped, abandoning the knot he had been tying on his bandage. _Yes. I _do_ need to set a limit on the number of questions you can ask me daily. I think I'll start with twenty-five. Of course, now you would only have twenty-four… Do you think you can control yourself enough to only ask twenty-four questions today?_

"Lucario…!" I groaned. "Seriously, I just wanted to know when your birthday is."

_My birth date? _He repeated, giving me another strange look. _Why would you even want to know that?_

"Oh… I don't know…!" I replied in a singsong fashion.

He growled. _Stop carrying on like a fool and just tell me!_

"Sheesh… Maybe I _won't _give you a present then."

He jumped, startled. Then, as if to mask his shock, he quickly began frantically scrubbing the wound on his shoulder. _Don't be an idiot! That's just a waste!_

"Aw… No, it's not…" I reached out and gingerly poked his shoulder. "Can't I give my little kangaroo buddy a simple present on his birthday?"

_ Do _not_ touch me! _He moved away, as much as he could without leaving the sink. _Just… idiotic! You're an idiot!_

"Who's the _real_ idiot?" I asked him, definitively placing a hand on the edge of the sink. "If you'd have just answered already, I wouldn't have to tease you so much…!"

_The tenth of Winter. _He answered softly without looking up. _Now when's yours?_

"Mine?" The second he answered, I began to draw my own picture on the calendar. "Now what do you need to know_ that_ for?" I asked with an accusatory Lucario-like voice.

_Bad impersonation. _He stated, looking at me with annoyance once again. _Now tell me what I want to know or I'll set fire to your crops! _

I practically dropped my pencil, affronted. "No way! That's a low blow!"

He merely smirked. _I don't play around. _

I let out a puff of air and returned to my drawing. "You're just saying that… There's no way a crazy kangaroo can even light a match anyway…!"

_You think I'm bluffing? _His smirk grew broad. _Are you seriously dumb enough to call my bluff?_

I looked him over once and simply shook my head. "You wouldn't do it. You can't. Kangaroos can't work matches, and they certainly don't breathe fire. Now quit trying to be threatening."

_You _called _it! _He exclaimed, suddenly rushing for the door.

"No! _Don't_!" I practically shrieked, dropping the calendar, backing up to the threshold, and holding out both arms to block his path. "You crazy-!"

But he simply ducked, escaping outdoors in a blur of movement.

"Get _back _here! For God's sakes, _please_!" I yelled, running after him and just barely managing to avoid tripping on the scurrying Azurill.

By the time I reached him, he was already standing beside the potato plants, casually toying with a leaf.

"Lucario! You _better not_ kill those plants!" I declared, clenching my fists. "I'm serious! Don't even _touch_ them!"

He plucked the leaf he had been holding clean off the stem, smirking deviously. _Last chance…! Do you call my bluff? Or are you going to tell me what I want to know… in order to save these _helpless _plants from being _barbequed_?_

"Lucario! Do _not_…!"

He tossed the leaf above him, leaning his head back before blowing out a steady stream of flames straight from his mouth, ultimately burning the hapless leaf to a crisp.

"The twentieth of Spring!" I screamed. "My birthday's the twentieth of Spring!"

He burst out laughing. _The look on your face… Priceless… You actually thought I was… going to… ah ha! …burn up all the crops…! _

"Hey! That is not funny!" I whined, lightly pushing him on the arm. "That was so mean!"

He turned towards the plants again, occasionally spurting out bits of fire just above them. I yelped at the sudden closeness, but he only stopped just so that he could start laughing all over again.

"Stop it! You are just so mean! I really thought you… were going to do it!"

He shook his head with a smile and then reached over to lightly pat my arm. _Don't start crying now… Though, I honestly thought you'd see right through that… I suppose it truly _isn't_ as hard to trick a human as I thought! Larger brains, my foot! Looks like _I _got you this time!_

"Yeah… be proud of yourself… for nearly giving me a heart attack! Geez… my heart is racing right now…"

_You'll be fine. _

After recovering for a few moments, I glared at him. "So how did you learn to breathe fire anyway? Are you part dragon or something?"

_No. I'm no dragon type. _Lucario shook his head, apparently taking the question seriously. _Though, I can learn Dragon Pulse. In fact, I used to use it as one of my primary moves, but I forgot it._

"What?"

_Never mind... I learned Flamethrower when I was fiddling around with some of my master's old things. Apparently, I had stumbled on a collection of his TMs._

"Okay… I give up. I have no idea what you're talking about… I'm completely confused."

_ Flamethrower... _He sighed very heavily, _is the move I just used to scare you. _He was speaking to me very slowly as if he were relaying a message to an infant. _I learned it when I found a TM in my master's storage. _

"So… a TM must be a scroll of some sort! Yeah! Teaching you an ancient move you'd never know about otherwise, am I right? Yeah! TM must stand for Totally… uh…!"

_Technical Machine. _Lucario corrected. _They help Pokémon perform moves they might not otherwise have the ability to learn. Actually, I was thinking of using one on Azurill soon, as a treat for training so well lately. _

"Oh. That sounds… nice." I replied awkwardly, trying not to expose how uncertain I felt about that. "You aren't going to teach her to breathe fire, are you?"

_Don't be ridiculous. Of course not. _He began to fiddle with the bandage he had been working on earlier; apparently it had fallen loose during his cruel joke. He was struggling with it.

"So," I spoke up, moving closer and gently guiding him to tie it correctly, "since you were so mean to me, I think I deserve some extra questions. What you do say you give me five extras?"

He eyed me pointedly. _Sorry, but since you were dumb enough to fall for it, you deserved it. You'll get no sympathy from me._

I shrugged. "Just when I thought you were getting to be kind and compassionate…"

_Whatever. _He waved an arm as if to brush the topic aside. _Now, are you busy? If not, I'll take you over to see some _decent _folk._

"Ah, actually…" I awkwardly scratched the back of my neck. "I was thinking of going to see Denny after I finished lunch…"

_Denny? _ Lucario repeated, sounding both confused and angry. _Who is-? _He stopped suddenly and straightened, looking appalled. _Who_ is_ this poser?_

"Poser?" I repeated, barely stifling a guffaw. "What-?"

_Just how many how many males do you fall for anyway? _Lucario asked accusingly. _Why isn't one enough?_

"I haven't fallen for anyone!" I shot back, angry. "What are you even_ talking_ about?"

_Hey, don't blame me. They're _your _feelings!_

"I can't help it if I have feelings for certain people… But seriously! I _don't_! And even if I did, it wouldn't mean anything! Just because I might have a small crush on someone doesn't mean I love them, you know!"

Lucario shrugged, but his judgment was still quite evident, based on his expression. _I'd give you advice on this, but I know you'd just ignore it. You're just too curious for your own good… You're getting mixed up with all the wrong people, and you're just going to wind up getting burned in the end! Why can't you just stick with the pink haired one? He's harmless enough. Easily persuadable too. You could put him on the right track in no time. _

My hands had balled up into fists. It wasn't until I felt my nails dig into my skin that I even realized I had been clenching them.

I let out a small sigh and opened them, trying to release the tension. I wasn't going to let him get to me.

"So." I began, using my best efforts to keep my voice steady and even. "You start off by saying you _weren't_ going to give me any advice, and then you proceed to go on lecturing me anyway."

_What can I say? _He shrugged, that superior smirk appearing on his lips._ I'm generous._

"Well," I pushed past him, heading for the door, "it doesn't even matter what you say anyway. Whoever I choose to associate with is_ my_ choice! _Not _yours! I'll do whatever _I _feel is right!"

Lucario turned, watching me but making no move to follow. _I've said it once before, and I'll say it once again… _

_Don't come crying to me when you get burned. _

oOoOoOo

When I arrived on the beach, I noticed that Denny was already on the dock waiting for me. I waved heartily and was more than a little surprised to see him waving back.

"Hey Denny!" I plopped down beside him. "How's it going? Did get everything unpacked?"

He nodded. "I didn't really have much to unpack, but I did get all my fishing gear in order. And the leaks in the roof fixed."

"You had leaks?"

"Yeah, but it's no big deal. They're all fixed up now."

"You didn't have any…" I trailed off, a bit uncertain how to phrase this. "Um… well… you didn't have any… Pokémon living in your house, did you?"

He laughed, probably at the absurdity of the question. "No! 'Course not! What? Did you?"

I laughed along with him, hopefully not too awkwardly. "Oh no! Of course not! Yeah! Who even heard of such a crazy thing!"

He collected himself, clearing his throat. "So… you wanted to hear more about Pokémon Trainers?"

"Yes! Definitely!"

"Oh! Wait!" Denny suddenly started reeling in his line. "I've got one!"

I watched him battle the fish anxiously, just hoping it wasn't some crazed Pokémon. But to my surprise, it was just an ordinary sea bass. Nothing crazy about that.

"Ha!" he tossed it into his pail. "That one's dinner for sure!"

I grinned, now very eager to catch one of my own. I couldn't wait to shove a tasty fish dinner in that smug Lucario's face! Well… not literally, of course.

While we waited for the fish to bite, Denny began to explain to me what Pokémon Training was all about. Apparently, it all begins with kids from all over receiving one Pokémon on their tenth birthday, either from a professor or from their parents. From then on, these kids were off on their own. They lived alone, traveling throughout the wilderness in search of wild Pokémon. And apparently, once a Trainer happens to find a wild Pokémon, he or she will try to catch it and keep it in a Pokéball. Like Lucario had told me before, Pokémon live within these balls and usually only come out when summoned.

Evidently, Trainers usually only call their Pokémon out for battle. They must battle their Pokémon in order to weaken the new ones they want to catch. Sometimes they even just battle for the heck of it. Just to prove who has stronger Pokémon. That, in essence, was the live of a typical Trainer.

To be perfectly honest, I found all this to be pretty senseless and rather brutal.

"So…" I spoke up, for perhaps the first time in a half an hour, "why do they make Pokémon battle? What if they get hurt?"

"They don't get too hurt." Denny answered with a shrug. "Pokémon are pretty tough; they can take a lot of damage, believe me. But they do have special hospitals for Pokémon; they call them Pokémon Centers."

"So you make your Pokémon fight other Pokémon all day long just to send them to the hospital?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it…" he looked at me with a rather comical-looking expression of discomfort on his face. "But that's probably a bit too harsh. It's not really as bad as I made it sound. Most Pokémon love to battle, and they do get pretty of exercise that way."

I paused, thinking hard. Did Lucario spend his mornings fighting Pokémon Trainers? It sounded a bit inane to me.

"But what happens to the wild Pokémon?" I asked him. "They don't get to go the hospital, do they?"

"Most Trainers don't hurt wild Pokémon that much." He answered, shaking his head. "They just want to hurt 'em enough to get them to relent to the Pokéball. If you push too hard, they'll faint, and that's pretty much what any Trainer would call an epic fail. You can't catch a Pokémon that has already fainted."

"Do the Pokémon bleed a lot when they're injured from battle?" I questioned. "And can they get burns from it?"

"They don't usually bleed…" Denny trailed off, looking at me with a mixture of confusion and trepidation. "No one goes _that_ far. Burns are common, though. That's a status effect. But… why do you ask? Have you seen a lot of bloodied up Pokémon around here before?"

"No," I responded quickly, "I was just wondering."

But this discovery had me even more worried. It wasn't just some scuffles with random Pokémon Trainers that Lucario was always getting into...

Just who or what was inflicting this sort of pain upon Lucario on a daily basis?

oOoOoOo

NOTES: Yeah, so I decided to make Popper be a Chatot. Hopefully, no one minds too much.

Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next chapter!


	14. What's really up with the Forest?

Spring 9

What's really up with the Forest?

"Ah! Good afternoon, Chelsea! Are you here for more seeds?" Chen greeted me the moment I stepped into his shop.

"Hi, actually, I'm looking for some batteries? Just regular ones? Do you have any?"

"I just might…" He thoughtfully raised a hand to his chin. "Just a moment. Let me check the back…"

Just as he was leaving, Charlie bounded into the room. "Hey lady!" he called out jubilantly. "Haven't you found any Wonderfuls yet?"

"No… I suppose not…"

He plopped down on the stool beside his father's and frowned. "You're no fun…"

"Oh!" I suddenly remembered, pulling out the calendar from my bag. "Actually… I do have a favor to ask you… you still want to mark down everyone's birthday with your adorable drawings?"

"Yes! Finally!" he exclaimed, excitedly reaching out to grab it. "I was starting to think you'd _never _ask!"

Charlie pulled out his colored pencils and set to work immediately, practically covering the entire calendar with his hunched-over body.

"You really like drawing, huh?" I asked, leaning slightly to get a better look.

"Don't peek!" he cried, quickly moving to cover it entirely. "That's _cheating_, you know!"

"Sorry…"

Soon enough, Charlie straightened, shuffling through the calendar one last time. "Okay… I think I got them all… Wait! What's _that_?"

"What's what?"

He turned the calendar towards me and pointed.

And there it was… the half-drawn Lucario face I had started earlier today, right there on the tenth of Winter.

I wanted to smack myself. How could I have forgotten?

"I didn't draw that…" Charlie spoke up, frowning. He looked up at me, curious. "Did you try to draw something and maybe messed it up?"

I laughed embarrassedly and shoved the calendar back into my bag. "You know, I don't really know! How _did _that get there? Do you suppose Natalie got ahold of it, maybe? She's quite the practical joker, isn't she! Or maybe it was Taro?"

Charlie frowned again, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's okay if you messed up a drawing, you know… My dad says it's always best to be honest and not lie about anything!"

"Well, yeah! Of course! It's just-you know-"

"Ah, Chelsea! I've found you some batteries!" Chen called, making his way back into the room. "They're right here!"

He couldn't have had better timing.

"Great! I'll take them!" I nodded quickly, feeling very thankful that Charlie did not bring the matter up again. Thank goodness for short attention spans…

After making a few other purchases, I took my leave, picking up the bucket of fish I had left by the door and heading back home.

When I returned to the ranch, I could see that Lucario and Azurill were busy training, running around the island like a couple of speed-obsessed hedgehogs. By the time I crossed the bridge, however, Lucario screeched to a halt, gawking at me with an odd look on his face. _What do you have in there?_

I placed the bucket upon with the ground with a triumphant grin. "Fish!"

Lucario headed over and peered inside. _Oh… yes, that stuff looks familiar… I've seen these a few times before, while I was swimming underwater… They're really fast though; they always swim away before I can ever have a chance to touch them… _He tentatively reached down to prod one of them and immediately jerked back at the touch. _And for good reason! They're slimy and disgusting! _He grimaced, wiping off the residue on the grass.

"Yeah, they're kind of gross until you remove the head and the skin… and the guts…"

_What? _Lucario looked appalled. What _did you say you're going to do to them?_

"Um, well, yeah… I've got to chop off the heads and skin them and gut them first… How else do you expect me to eat them?"

He made a face. _You're joking, right? You're not… _seriously_ going to eat them, are you?_

"Of course I am! Fish tastes great!"

Lucario looked like he might become sick. _That's just… revolting…_

"Hey! It's perfectly normal to eat fish! You might like it too! Just wait until you smell it cooking!"

_Oh, I smell them alright… _he cringed.

Meanwhile, Azurill was trying to take a peek of her own, but apparently, the pail was too tall for her to have much of a chance to do so. Though that wasn't enough to stop her from trying...

Without even turning to look at her, Lucario ushered the little one away using his tail.She giggled, apparently getting tickled by the fluffiness.

"Oh!" I suddenly remembered. "That isn't the only thing I've brought!"

And with that said, I pulled out the batteries and held them out for him to see.

_What's that? _He rolled his eyes, still inadvertently tickling Azurill with that tail of his. _Fish repellant, I hope?_

"Nope, it's the batteries! Now you can listen to that music again!"

_Oh, so _that's _what batteries look like… _he mused, taking the package and looking it over carefully. _Seems rather large though… I don't understand how it would power the music… Perhaps it attaches to the outside?_

"And that's not all I've got for you…" I smirked, pulling out my other purchase, a chocolate bar.

_Oh! _He immediately perked up, his tail finally abandoning Azurill in favor of wagging happily. _You brought that again! _

I chuckled, opening it and breaking it apart before holding some out for him. "I thought you might like it…"

_I do! Yes! Thank you! _he nodded and immediately took to nibbling away at it.

I couldn't help but watch him. It was such a cute sight, vaguely reminding me of a bunny rabbit feasting on a little carrot.

"Why aren't you always this cute?" I asked, smiling and reaching out to ruffle his head.

_I'm not a teddy bear... _he explained with a hint of annoyance, yet he still allowed me to pet his head.

"Of course not! You're way cuter than that!"

_Whatever… _He glanced at the remaining chocolate in my hands. _Are you going to give some to Azurill?_

"Yeah, that's what I was planning to do…" I informed him, breaking off her share.

_Give it to me. I'll give it to her bit by bit once she performs well enough to earn it. _

"Uh… It might melt in your hand if you wait too long."

_Then she'll have to move fast. _He answered with a smirk.

oOoOoOo

_So maybe it does smell good in here… _

Azurill bounded inside with Lucario right on her heels.

I looked up from the pan and barely resisted the urge to smirk. "I knew you'd come around eventually…!"

_Well, I had to eat sooner or later… and, seeing as all the food is in the house… _Lucario shrugged. _Anyway, you said before that all dishes have names, so… what is this one here? _he questioned, heading over to peer at it.

"It's just grilled fish, but I think it'll taste great."

_Grilled… fish… _he repeated, looking skeptical. _But you're using a frying pan! So wouldn't it be more accurate to say that it's _fried_ fish?_

I frowned. "Close enough. So anyway, are you going to want some too?"

_No. _he shook his head and started to head for the refrigerator. _I don't eat living creatures. Er, once-living creatures…_

"Oh, but fish is different though!" I pointed out, pulling out some plates. "They're invertebrates."

_Invertebrate…? You mean like a Ditto?_

"Huh?"

_Ugh, never mind. _He sighed, returning from the fridge with a fistful of berries. _I refuse to eat the flesh of any living creature. I just won't do it. No matter how good it smells._

"Oh, so you're really a vegetarian then?"

_Well, yes. _

"Is Azurill one too?"

_I doubt it. _

"Okay. Then I'll give some to her!"

Lucario tossed the berries in his hand onto the table, and, after seeing Azurill struggling to climb up a chair, he seized her by the tail and set her on the table too. She began chattering nonstop, though Lucario just seated himself without a word.

Thinking it'd be best to dice up Azurill's share into really small pieces, I pulled out a knife and decided to do just that. Once I finished with that, I looked up to find that Lucario was staring quite hungrily at the fish before me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're a vegetarian?"

_Of course I am! _Lucario immediately snapped out of his trance and turned away obstinately.

"Well, that look on your face a few seconds ago said otherwise…" I pointed out, heading over to the table with Azurill's and my dinner.

He merely grumbled, but I couldn't help but notice him steal another glance at the food.

"Hey Lucario? Could I ask what your teeth look like?"

_What? _He looked over at me, torn between confusion and anger. _What kind of a stupid question is that?_

"Well…" I began, placing a hand on my chin, "true herbivores have really flat teeth. It's useful for grinding up plants and grass and stuff. Carnivores, on the other hand, have really sharp teeth, made for piercing flesh and ripping apart meat."

Lucario cringed slightly. _Could this conversation get any more disgusting?_

"And omnivores," I continued, choosing to ignore that comment, "have a combination of the two, so it's possible for them to eat whatever they'd like. Here, I can use myself as an example!

"See? I've got some sharp teeth up front here, and in the back, you can see that most of my teeth are really flat…! Look!"

_Yeah, great… _Lucario leaned back in his seat, probably in an effort to get farther away from me. _I've always wanted to look inside a human's mouth… Just… lovely…_

"Enough with the sarcasm!" I exclaimed, barely resisting the urge to stomp my foot. "I'm being serious here! Now show me your teeth!"

_What kind of a stupid demand is that? You're just… You're extremely weird!_

"I want to know if you're an herbivore or not! Just show me!"

_I can't believe I'm actually doing this… _Lucario opened up his mouth, and I was shocked to discover that his teeth were extremely sharp.

There was just no way he was an herbivore.

"Wow… you've got… quite the set of fangs there…"

It was a wonder he hadn't tried to eat _me_ before… let alone Azurill!

Lucario yawned. _Yeah. _

"So why are you choosing to be a vegetarian? It's clear that Lucarios are definitely _not _natural herbivores, so what's up? What's your story?"

_There is no story. _Lucario looked at me darkly. _I fulfilled your inane request, so hurry up and eat your fish before it gets cold._

"Yeah… okay…"

Azurill was already happily munching away at her meal. Apparently _she_ wasn't a vegetarian...

Sighing, I figured I had better get started eating too. It turned out that the fish tasted as great as it looked, but somehow it wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped…

Lucario was really starting to annoy me with his secrets. I was starting to wonder if he was doing it all on purpose. He probably was. I certainly wouldn't put it past him…

Glaring slightly, I slowly looked up at him to discover that he was staring at my plate again!

"Oh, come off it, Lucario!" I exclaimed, causing him to startle. "You want this fish, and you know it!"

_I do _not! Lucario exclaimed in return, slamming both hands onto the table at once, causing a bunch of berries to roll down to the floor.

Azurill squealed, her eyes crossing. She fell back onto the table, apparently mimicking a fainting spell.

_Azurill says that _you're _being too argumentative! _Lucario declared, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away obstinately.

I sighed, allowing my head to droop down into my hands. This was just… getting out of hand.

"Hey…" I finally spoke up, lifting my head. "What do you say we visit these 'decent' folks now? I think I really need some tips on getting along with you…"

_Um. _Lucario shifted slightly before finally meeting my gaze. _Well… I think it's a little too late for that now. Perhaps we could visit them tomorrow?_

"Why? What's wrong with today?"

_Well… _he trailed off, scratching his head, _they are a bit… eccentric, so… Well, I just think it'll be safer if we don't surprise them in the middle of the evening._

"Eccentric?" I repeated, confused. "But I thought you said these people were great!"

_They get along well with Pokémon, but… well… that doesn't mean they aren't without their own set of quirks…_

I could feel sweat sliding down my face. "They're a bunch of weirdoes, aren't they?"

_Close enough. _Lucario shrugged. _But hey, that should be perfect for someone like you, you know._

"Perfect for _you_, maybe! _You're _the weird one around here!"

Lucario waved an arm. _You can believe what you want, I suppose._

I frowned at him, but he hardly noticed, choosing this time to pick up all the fallen berries.

"Well, I actually can't see them tomorrow… since I already promised Denny I'd meet up with him that afternoon."

Lucario's lips curled into a snarl, but he did not make a noise._ That's _your _mistake then._

"Maybe… or maybe not." I answered lightly, turning back to my plate.

The rest of the meal went by in relative silence. Upon finishing, I went to set both my and Azurill's plate into the sink when I suddenly remembered that there was another matter I had wanted to look into.

The forest. I had to find out more about it. I had a hunch that all of Lucario's daily wounds were somehow connected to the place… and I definitely planned to investigate that hunch.

Smiling to myself, I figured I would bide my time a little by washing up all the dishes now, rather than put it off until later. Anything to help pass the time leading up till nightfall…

Lucario and Azurill went about continuing their training, which I found a tad surprising. Usually, Lucario would just meditate after supper, allowing Azurill to play until she was ready to fall asleep. Maybe he just wanted to get away from the lingering, yet tempting, smell of grilled fish…

At any rate, the sun was just starting to set by the time I finished my task. I headed outside, noticing that Azurill was hurling bubbles at Lucario, while he was expertly avoiding every one of them.

Figuring I shouldn't stop to bother them, I headed off for the bridge leading to town. Within moments, Lucario was standing before me. _What are you doing?_

I smirked slightly, folding my arms. "Who's the one asking annoying questions now?"

_I'm serious, Chelsea. It's late; you shouldn't leave the ranch alone._

"I'll be fine. Seriously, what could happen?" I shrugged and moved to walk past him.

He blocked my path. _I'm serious. You needn't visit any humans at this hour. Wait until tomorrow. _

"What? Does everyone turn into zombies or something during the night?"

_What's a zombie?_

"Well… it doesn't matter. I'm not going to visit anybody anyway. I wanted to head into the forest."

_Oh, is that all? I'll accompany you then. _He turned to Azurill and called out to her in his wacky, angry kangaroo language.

"Oh, you don't have to. I don't want to interrupt your training session."

_It's fine. She's tired anyway. And I really don't want you heading out there alone._

"Why not?" I asked him, knowing that I had him now. "It's not like it's dangerous out there or anything, right?"

_It can be. _He answered casually. _But you'll be fine with me around, watching out for you._

"Oh." I said awkwardly, not expecting this kind of answer.

_Could I ask the reason for this trip? _He asked, folding his arms and looking up at me with slight suspicion.

"Oh! Um…" I faltered, trying to think up a convincing reason. "I, uh… wanted to pick up some more… mushrooms... Yeah! Exactly! I made a lot of money with those, and I'm sure that many of them must have grown back by now!"

_Don't insult my intelligence by lying to me. _He said darkly. _What's the real reason? Spit it out._

"Well, uh… it's like this…" I faltered once again, floundering for another good reason. That was my best one! "Uh… well… I'm… simply… curious…? Yes, I'm just a little curious about the place, that's all…"

It _was_ true… partially, at least.

He stared back at me intently, those piercing crimson eyes practically looking past my skin as if to determine whether I was lying or not. Eventually, he broke from his reverie, seemingly satisfied with my answer. _Well… why didn't you say so before?_

"I don't know… I guess I thought…" I broke off, laughing nervously. "Well, I thought you'd get mad at me. You seem to hate my incessant questioning."

He suddenly smiled, lightly patting my elbow with surprising kindness. _Nothing wrong with being a little curious._

With that said, he took off, a blue and black blur speeding through the town.

Now I felt a little guilty. I mean, I hadn't lied to him, but still, he didn't know the whole story. But if he did… would he still be so congenial about it? I highly doubted it.

But I had to know more about this place. It was for Lucario's own good. If something was happening to him out there every single day, I wanted to help him out however I could. And even if I couldn't do much to help, I still needed to know the whole picture. How else could I support him through whatever was plaguing him?

After quickly waving back to Azurill, I hurried after him.

oOoOoOo

_Why do you always take those shoes off whenever you swim? _Lucario asked, watching me pull on my last boot.

"They'd weigh me down. Plus, I don't want water getting inside them. You'd hear a squishing noise with every step I'd take."

_Well, alright then. Let's go get those mushrooms. _

"Right… yeah…" I followed in his wake.

Eventually, he whirled around, looking annoyed. _What are you walking so slowly for?_

I stopped in my tracks, chuckling nervously. "I don't know… I guess I must be tired or something…?"

_Why did you even want to come out here if you're tired?_

"Well, I… I'm not _that_ tired…"

He huffed, continuing on his path.

It didn't take too long for us to reach the mushroom patch. As a result, the sun was still up. It would probably take more than a half an hour for the sun to set completely…

So I slowly picked the mushrooms I wanted, carefully inspecting each one to make sure they were free of any damage whatsoever.

_Why are you taking so long? I swear, it almost seems like you're stalling on purpose!_

I dropped all the shrooms I was holding, though I tried my best not to look too guilty. "What makes you say that? I mean, I just told you I'm a little tired…"

_What's _really_ going on? _Lucario asked suspiciously, glaring at me pointedly. _You're lying far too much for any of this to be normal. Just cut to the chase. What are you really after out here?_

"Well, I…" I trailed off, trying to find the best way to explain myself. I had run out of lies, really. It was just getting to be too hard to convince him of anything... But then again, maybe telling only part of the truth might help me out once again…

"Well, it's like this." I finally began, looking up and gazing at him carefully. "You told me before that it's dangerous out here at night… I wanted to find out just how dangerous it really gets."

He blinked, looking rather confused. _Why would you want to know about that?_

He caught me there. I couldn't really avoid the full truth now… And if I lied, well, it'd be too obvious… It seemed like the truth was the only way to go… again…

"Well… I got to thinking… maybe your training takes place here in the dead of night… and that's why you're always injured when you return home… because it's so dangerous here…"

_Oh. You- _he stopped abruptly, looking quite awkward. _Well, yes… I… see what you mean. It's not like that though. My injuries are my own fault, you see. I tend to over-do things, and well, getting hurt is the result of that. _

He didn't say anything more, though he still seemed rather awkward.

"So, you don't train here?"

_No, I do. Sometimes… _he raised a hand to his chin, looking a bit thoughtful for a moment. _Not very often though._

"So…" I began, feeling a tad awkward myself now, "then it's not dangerous here?"

_No, it can be. _He replied, suddenly gathering a large breath. _Though, it's mostly just dangerous for you to be alone. That's why I came along to keep an eye out for you._

"Oh. So anything dangerous that could happen around here, you could handle completely, by yourself and with no trouble at all?"

_For the most part. Though, even if the worst were to happen, it's likely any Pokémon who'd come our way would attack me instead of you. But with my Aura abilities, it would be fairly easy for me to guide us away from any potential trouble in the first place. But you see, if you were all on your own, it'd be a different story…_

"But why would a Pokémon decide to attack you instead of me? It'd seem like I'd be the easier target…"

_Well, you are a human, so they would most likely avoid you to begin with, mainly because they are afraid of being captured. And well, let's be honest, I've got a little more meat on me than you do. _He explained, tapping his fairly thick thigh.

"So you're saying… Pokémon… eat other Pokémon…?" I asked, slightly horrified, though I had somewhat expected to hear that.

_Some do. Some don't. _he said nonchalantly, though the miserable expression on his face did not match his tone. _And plus… I've made a few enemies who happen to dwell in this forest. They'd probably do almost anything to feast on me._

I had been crouching this entire time, but hearing that caused me to fall back on my rear end. I was speechless. "…_When _did you make these sorts of enemies?" I asked, finally summoning up the words to speak. "Enemies that sound like they specifically want _you _dead?"

Lucario avoided my gaze. _It was a long time ago. It's none of your concern._

"Are they… the reason why you always come home with all those wounds?"

_No. I haven't seen them in years, actually. _

"Who _are _these enemies of yours?"

_I already told you it's none of your concern!_

"It _is _my concern, actually!" I exclaimed, suddenly a bit angry. "What if they get you? I don't want you to get hurt!"

He let out a small snicker of disbelief. _As if it matters to you what happens to me… Besides-_

"It _does _matter to me!" I interrupted, rising to my feet in indignation. "You _do _matter! You matter to me!"

He seemed to momentarily be at a loss for words. But he threw on that skeptical look before long. _You don't even know me. It's silly to throw out that much trust and concern for someone you hardly know!_

"I don't care! I-"

"Oh _shut up _already!" a woman's voice shouted out.

I froze at the sudden sound. It was familiar to me somehow… Well, that fact just freaked me out even more. Was it… that witch…?

Lucario cursed under his breath. _You see what you do to me? Now we have to deal with the Witch Princess…! If you could have managed to shut up for longer than five seconds, I could have easily led us away from her… But you just had to distract me, didn't you?_

"Don't pin this all on me!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice down to a whisper. "Where is she, anyway?"

_ Over there. _He grunted, indicating with a jerk of his head.

And sure enough, there she was… that freaky witch woman, complete with unnaturally red eyes and nasty expression, slowly approaching us… Now how were we supposed to get away from her?

"There's nothing worse than listening to a Trainer bickering with her Pokémon…" she was saying, shooting Lucario in particular a dirty look. "Hasn't he learned any respect yet?"

_She is _not _my Trainer. _Lucario said darkly, moving to stand in between her and myself.

I raised an eyebrow. Did she really think I would bother traveling around with Lucario just to make him fight other Pokémon? I have a ranch to take care of, darn it!

"Then what is she to you?" the witch asked Lucario, her eyes twinkling deviously. She suddenly laughed, a lot louder than I had expected. "Don't tell me you've confused the poor girl! Got her thinking _you're_ the Trainer and _she's_ the Pokémon!"

_That's hardly the case._

She continued to laugh obnoxiously, though she was covering her mouth in a rather girlish way.

"Actually…" I leaned around Lucario and waved my arm, trying to be noticed. "I'm a rancher! So I don't have the time or the desire to be a Trainer or a… Pokémon…?"

_ What do you even want with us, anyway? _Lucario whirled back around to face the Witch Princess after shooting me a dirty look. _Why don't you just go off and mix some potions or whatever it is that you do? _

Her laughing stopped just as abruptly as it started. She gave Lucario a menacing glare. "Oh, believe me; I've _always _got time to teach a Pokémon like you some respect… And besides, I was merely taking a stroll in order to maintain my stunning figure! If anything, these woods are _mine_, and _you two _are the ones who need to _get out_!"

_Gladly. Anything to get _you _out of my sight... _Lucario responded disgustedly.

"But we were… only picking mushrooms… That's not a crime! And I didn't even get that many!"

_Shut up, Chelsea… _Without even bothering to turn back and face me, he seized my arm and started to lead me away.

But we hadn't even taken two steps before Lucario suddenly jumped back, shouting an expletive. _Close your eyes!_

oOoOoOo

NOTES: Sorry to leave you off on a cliffhanger like that, but the chapter was going to become a bit too long for my liking, so I had to cut it off somewhere… Though, as a result, I've got a sizable amount of the next chapter already finished. So hopefully, you'll get a faster update. No promises though. I sometimes run into trouble on this fanfic in particular.

Oh, and I found out that Lucario actually aren't able to learn Flamethrower… so to explain how the Lucario in this fanfic can, I'm going to say…

He was bitten by a GameShark! :o


	15. Ready to Raise a Torchic?

NOTES: I've fixed up the ending of the last chapter to include more of Chelsea's reactions to the conversation between Lucario and the Witch Princess. Thanks to Dreamless-Sleep777 for that suggestion! :D

Also, I've decided I'm not going to change the fact that Lucario knows Flamethrower... lupyne, the one who politely pointed out the mistake in the first place, seems to still like the idea, and well, I do too. I'm sorry if it bugs anyone, but that's just the way it is... As a particularly hilarious author once said, I claim author powers here!

Besides, Chelsea's save file hasn't been corrupted yet, so it's all good ~ !

Oh! And a response to Guest… I assure you Lucario doesn't hate masculine men. The main point I was trying to get across in that earlier chapter was that Lucario feels Julia and Mirabelle treat Pokémon with respect. But Vaughn on the other hand... well, that's where the mystery comes in. Taro doesn't actually work with Pokémon, so that's why Lucario is still suspicious of him, since he hasn't any concrete evidence proving he's decent. Hopefully, that covers your question well enough... Also, thank you for reading and for your support! :)

Spring 9 - 10

Ready to Raise a Torchic?

_Close your eyes!_

"What? Why? What's-" I had only just noticed a figure in the brush before I quickly obeyed the sudden command, too fearful of what might happen if I didn't. "What's going on?"

"Oh what's wrong?" the Witch Princess sounded heavily disappointed. "You don't like my Arbok?"

"What's an Arbok? What's happening?" I asked fearfully, gripping Lucario's arm tighter and tighter. "What am I supposed to-? Oh, God! I can hear it right next to me! What is it? Why do I have to keep my-"

_Just shut up already! _Lucario ordered, suddenly yanking on my hands to guide them higher up his arm. _And watch out for my wrist spike! You're about to prick yourself!_

The Witch Princess burst out laughing, but the situation was anything but funny to me. I hadn't a clue what an Arbok even was, but I could hear it moving through the brush. It was so close…

_Call it back! _Lucario snarled.

I squeezed my eyes tighter to keep from whimpering and sunk down to my knees, abandoning Lucario's dangerous arm in favor of clutching his waist. I didn't have much use for pride or dignity right about now… I just wanted this freaky creature to go away. But judging by the sounds in the brush, it was only moving closer… I didn't know what it was or what it was even capable of… Why wasn't Lucario fighting it!

_Oh, forget this! _Lucario abruptly cried out in utter irritation. Judging by the amount of emphasis he had placed on the first letter in the word 'forget,' I had half a mind to think he was about to say something else…

But I didn't have too much time to think on it, seeing as a pair of arms had slipped under my knees and shoulders, swiftly lifting me into the air.

"Lucario! What's going-!" I called out, only feeling some relief when my frantic reaching out caused my hand to make contact with a familiar face.

_Yeah, you're fine! Just-don't say anything for a minute!_

"Oh, don't tell me you're just going to run away like a-!" But the Witch Princess' voice quickly faded away due to the sound of the wind gushing against my face.

Evidently Lucario had started running; the rushing wind current alone was enough to make me feel seriously unbalanced. I gripped his neck in an attempt to steady myself, though was still obviously careful not to choke him.

Soon enough, the intense motion stopped, and the wind was still.

Lucario let out a small laugh. _You know you can open your eyes now, right?_

"What-?" I looked about wildly.

And he chose that precise moment to release his grip on my knees, allowing them to drop abruptly to the ground. Thankfully, he tightened his hold on my shoulders to keep me from falling straight down to the earth.

After spending a moment to recover, I turned back to him. "What… what even happened back there?" I wondered aloud, my voice sounding even weaker than I felt.

_The Witch Princess' Arbok was toying with us, _he answered shortly, looking none too pleased. _He was trying to frighten you, and obviously… he succeeded. _

"What is an Arbok?"

_An Arbok is… well, it's an Arbok! A Poison type Pokémon! I don't know how else to describe it!_

"Is it… deadly?"

_Maybe for you. _He still looked rather annoyed, but for once, this annoyance was not directed at me. _But he was only trying to scare you. I doubt he would ever use deadly force on a human. _

I was dumbfounded. "But you-! You _just said_ that any Pokémon that might attack would go after _you_, not me! Why didn't he attack you?"

Lucario gave me a sidelong look. _An Arbok could never hurt me, so why would he bother? He's a Poison type, remember? I'm completely immune to the majority of his attacks. I mean… I might need to watch out for his Wrap attack, but I doubt he could even sneak up on me well enough to pull off that kind of move. I could easily avoid it using my ExtremeSpeed. Honestly, I only need to watch out for his Glare attack… That's why I told you to close your eyes. The attack can't affect you if you don't look him in the eye. I found that out the hard way, believe me… _

I sat down, feeling a bit overwhelmed with this large amount of information. After I had spent a few moments trying to absorb it all, I looked back up at him. "But you glare at me all the time, and nothing bad ever really happens! Why's this Arbok any different?"

_I don't know the move Glare, _he answered impatiently, _but the Glare of an Arbok is an entirely different story. It causes paralysis._

"Paralysis?" I exclaimed, beside myself with shock. I looked around wildly, suddenly fearful that they might catch up to us soon enough. "Should we run away now, before they come back?"

_No, we'll be fine. I doubt they'd follow us out here. And if they do, I'll give that Arbok a taste of my Aura Sphere._

"Hey…" I paused, finally remembering the question I had really wanted to ask him, "why didn'tyou just fight off that Arbok in the first place? If you're as tough as you _say _you are, it should have been easy for you to defeat him! And then we wouldn't have had to run away like that!"

_Well… _Lucario regarded me pointedly, _it's a bit difficult to fight when I've got someone clinging to me like a terrified Aipom!_

"Right… Sorry about that."

_As long as you keep your eyes closed, you won't have much to worry about when it comes to the Witch Princess' Arbok. He's a prankster and nothing more. Just keep that in mind for the future, hmm?_

"Why haven't I… Why didn't the witch have that Arbok with her the first time we met her?"

_Usually, he's asleep during the day, _Lucario explained. _I think he's only active in the evenings and at night. _

"Oh…" I paused a moment, then glanced back up at him. "Have you been hit by his Glare attack before? You did say you found out about it the hard way, didn't you?"

_Well, yes. _He gazed off in the distance and frowned. _It only happened once, but it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience…_

"What happened?" I wondered, watching him curiously.

_Well, _he eyed me a moment before frowning again and folding his arms, _the Witch Princess certainly used my paralysis to her advantage… She decided to experiment on me… She was testing my endurance…with torture. _He stopped there, shivering slightly.

I swallowed slowly, just imagining dozens of horrible situations. "What did she do to you?"

_She… tickled me._

I stared at him, my eyebrow raised. "She did… _what_ now?"

_She tickled me… past _any_ reasonable limit!_

Okay… and here I had thought it was something deadly… but tickling? What the heck?

"Um…Okay…" I began, looking at him in disbelief. "So… what? Are you really ticklish or something?"

He hung his head. _Yes…_

"Wow… I'm surprised you would admit it."

All of a sudden, he glared at me, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth. _If you _ever _tickle me, Chelsea, I swear, I'll burn down _every single_ crop-!_

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down!" I waved my arms in defeat. "I'm not going to tickle you! I wasn't even thinking of it! Besides, that's kind of odd, isn't it? Why would I even want to do it?"

_You better not. _He grumbled, folding his arms.

Silence crept in, which was rather regrettable, since I really felt like I might laugh any second now…

What _is so funny? _

"It's just…" I pressed my hand over my mouth for a moment to suppress a laugh, "well, I'd have never thought _you_'d be ticklish… Now that I think on it, I can hardly even… imagine it…! Mister angry, grumpy tough guy… reduced to a giggling mess…!"

He growled and turned away.

Spring 10

"_Chelsea_!"

Another glomp from behind…

"Julia?" I twisted around in her grasp to face her. "What's up? Is something-?"

"Huh?" she released me, looking confused. "What do you have a fishing pole for?"

"Well…" I shrugged slightly. "I was going to fishing… and…"

"Why would you even _want_ to do that?" she exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "_Vaughn's _here today! Why even _bother_ with that icky old hobby when you _could_ be spending time with _him_!"

"But Julia, I don't really-!"

But before I could even finish that sentence, she grasped my arm and tugged, leading me back to her house. The minute we stepped inside, she urged me to set my pole and bucket in the corner for the time being.

I was a bit surprised to discover that her mother wasn't behind the counter as usual. But I didn't have much time to think about it, since Julia swiftly dragged me into the kitchen.

Once there, she finally released her grip on me and headed over to a pot that seemed to be boiling. She started stirring it vigorously and began to throw in random ingredients that certainly didn't sound appealing to me… especially not when all combined into one pot. I mean… curry powder, herbs, and chocolate? What the heck was she making?

"Julia?" I asked her cautiously, moving closer only to discover that the mixture within the pot was a sickly grayish color. "What are you doing?"

"Making soup!" she answered happily. "You're welcome to eat lunch with Vaughn, mom, and me if you'd like! You'll just _love _it, I know!"

Before I could respond to that, the front door slammed.

"Ooh! Here he comes!" Julia squealed excitedly.

And sure enough, I saw Vaughn's shadow slink across the floor, disappearing once he entered what I supposed to be the storage room.

"Oh, Vaughn!" Julia called out in a singsong voice as she resumed her stirring. "It seems _someone _misses you while you're away all week!"

"Julia!" I whispered, horrified. "Be quiet! What are you even-!"

But she shoved me playfully, her eyes twinkling. "Maybe you should stay _longer_ than for only two days!"

And just then, Vaughn appeared in the doorway, looking less than pleased. "Well," he began testily, glaring heavily at Julia, "_someone _is going to have to get a grip on herself… because I'm _not _putting off work for a reason as stupid as that!"

Julia gasped, horrified. "How could you talk like that to Chelsea?"

"Ch-Chelsea?" Vaughn sputtered, apparently either really confused or really embarrassed. He turned, apparently only just now noticing my presence in the room. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, and his face suddenly turned… brick red.

Now would have been a great time to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Too bad I'm not a ninja…

"Just awful!" Julia declared. She closed her eyes in disgust, her arms folded in anger. "Chelsea's my guest, and here, she even missed you, and when you finally come back, you just treat her like _garbage_!"

Vaughn simply gaped, his face a bright shade of red. Something that… I honestly never would have thought possible. Not in my entire life…

"Wait a minute…" Julia finally bothered to look at her prey, and she too seemed more than surprised at his reaction. "Are you… seriously…?"

The bell on the front door abruptly jingled.

"Vaughn! I need your help! Genji's gotten loose again, and I can't catch him!"

"Right… I'm… I'm on my way!" Vaughn's seemingly frozen body finally jolted back to life, and he was gone in a flash.

For a moment, the two of us just stood there, dumbfounded.

And then Julia burst into giggles. "Did you see his face? Oh my God, it was so cute!" she exclaimed, barely able to suppress her never-ending snickers.

I just clutched my heart, happy it was over. "Seriously, Julia, do _not _do that again, that was… Oh my God…"

"I've _never _seen him blush before, not ever!" she continued, suddenly reaching out to grab both of my hands. "You should _totally _date him!"

"Yeah… I don't think so." I pulled back, waving her hands away. "I don't really want to get involved with somebody… My life is kinda crazy right now, so…"

"Oh, but Chelsea! That's so boring! You can't just be a single farmer girl _forever_!"

"Maybe so, but… well, we'll see."

Seconds later, the bell jingled once more, and I could hear Mirabelle panting.

"Thanks for the help, Vaughn. I know I'm not a spring chicken anymore, so I very much appreciate it…" she was saying. "Your face seems red too… Are you alright?"

Vaughn merely grumbled. I saw his shadow slink across the floor; apparently it was back to the storage room for him.

Julia started giggling again, but I quickly shook my head and waved my arms in a desperate attempt to silence her. She shrugged and sighed, apparently bored with me. She returned to her pot.

I stood there a moment, not quite knowing what to do now. And just when a new idea had sprung into my mind… a timer went off.

"It's finished!" Julia declared triumphantly. She seized her ladle and a nearby bowl, turning back to me after she had filled it with that sickly gray liquid. "You still want to stay for lunch?"

"I already ate… thank you," I answered quickly. Well, it _was_ true. "I've got to get going anyway. So… I'll see you later."

"Okay… but you don't know what you're missing!" Julia replied with a smile, resuming her work.

I headed out of the kitchen to find Mirabelle seated behind the counter. She looked up at me with surprise. "Chelsea? When did you come in?"

I chuckled embarrassedly, heading towards her. "Julia let me in earlier… just a few minutes ago, I guess."

"I see," she smiled pleasantly. "Well, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Actually," I stood up straighter, "I was just thinking… Well, I've got enough money for a Torchic, so… Could I buy one today? Do you think I'd be ready for that?"

"Of course!" she nodded confidently. "They aren't too hard to care for! I'm certain you can handle one! Now… what would you like to name her?"

"Huh?"

"Your Torchic. What would you like to name her? They like it if you give them nicknames!"

"Oh. Okay… I guess I never really thought about that before…" I paused, thinking hard. "Hmm… Hey, what about Korra?"

"That's a fine name!" Mirabelle declared somewhat robotically. I started to wonder how many times she had said that same line to other people before me…

"I'll have her sent to your ranch," she continued. "Now, do you need to buy some feed as well? Gloves?"

"Oh yeah… I probably need that stuff too…"

I handed her the money. And well, suddenly all that cash I had accumulated was gone. Just like that… Well, this was an investment at least.

"Here are your gloves…" Mirabelle handed them over. "I'll have your feed sent over to the ranch as well."

"Great. Thanks." I was just about to ask her if she had any tips for raising Torchics, when…

"Vaughn!" She called out suddenly, causing me to jump in surprise. "Could you grab a bag of feed and a Torchic? I need you to deliver it to Chelsea's ranch for me."

I froze. Now, I knew somebody had to deliver this stuff, but I really didn't think it would be Vaughn. "Ah..." I swallowed, forcing myself to speak. "That's okay. I can take it back myself…"

"Nonsense!" Mirabelle beamed. "And besides…" she winked, "this is your chance to ask Vaughn any questions you might have."

"Questions…?" I repeated weakly, wondering what she was getting at here.

"Vaughn's an expert when it comes to ranching," she explained. "He can give you plenty of tips. I can bet you'd much rather hear it from him than from me," she remarked, winking once more.

I swallowed again. So Vaughn was going to head to my ranch…

And Lucario was already there, having come home earlier than usual today…

Crap.

"You coming or what?"

I broke away from my thoughts, whirling about to see Vaughn standing at the door with a bag of feed over his shoulder. He was regarding me with an annoyed expression, one that, surprisingly enough, reminded me of a certain Pokémon…

"Yeah! Sorry!" I hurried after him, waving to Mirabelle before heading out the door.

I followed him up to the pen, when he suddenly thrust the feed bag into my arms.

"Hold this," he ordered gruffly.

"Okay, sure…" I struggled with it momentarily, but finally adjusted it so that I could actually see over it.

After hopping over the fence, Vaughn ran up to the nearest Torchic and quickly grabbed it before it could run away. My new Torchic squirmed in his arms, but his grip was firm and unyielding. He hopped back over the fence.

"These ones came from Orre; they're pretty timid, so you have to be firm," he informed me. "So… you want to carry the Torchic back to your place or that feed bag?"

I watched Korra continue to wiggle and writhe within his grasp. "Uh… I think I'll stick with the feed bag for now, thanks."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

As we walked, Korra continued to struggle, but thankfully, her peeping sounded softer and her thrashing, weaker the farther we traveled. Vaughn, for his part, didn't seem to want to say anything.

But then, all of a sudden, he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about earlier," he said brusquely. "I thought Julia was talking about herself."

"Right. Of course. I understand. No need to apologize, really!" I told him, all in one breath.

He eyed me from beneath his dark cowboy hat. Then he simply nodded.

Once we reached the ranch, I was relieved to find that Lucario was not around. Apparently he had sensed Vaughn's approach and had hidden himself for now. Azurill was off playing in the stream, but she started to run over towards me the moment she noticed us.

"I see you didn't build her a pen," Vaughn spoke suddenly. He didn't sound pleased.

"A what?" I looked up at him, confused.

"A pen," he repeated, looking me in the eye. "It's a good idea to let your Torchic outside frequently. They prefer the outdoors. And a pen will keep them all in one place. Then you won't have to go hunting all over the island for them when it's time to let them inside for the night."

"Oh. Right. I guess I didn't think about that…"

"Azurill!" the little one had reached us, bouncing and repeating her name happily.

Vaughn stared. "…You have an Azurill?" he asked finally.

"Yup!" I nodded, grinning. "She's my little buddy! She helps me with my watering!"

Vaughn watched Azurill bounce, his blank expression unchanging. "Elliot told me you had one… but I didn't believe him."

"Uh, why not?"

He gave me a disinterested glance before heading off for the coop. "It's _Elliot _we're talking about here…" he finally remarked, as more of an afterthought than anything else.

Shrugging, I followed after him.

He set Korra down in the middle of the coop and briefly watched her scurry away from him, back into a corner. I threw the bag down near the feed storage and stared at her as well. "She really _is _timid…"

"She'll warm up to you eventually." Vaughn ripped open the feed bag and began placing bunches of it into the storage bin. "You'll have to feed her every day now."

"Yup! I read that in a book!" I nodded, proud. But then, I frowned, realizing how dumb that actually sounded. "Er, I mean, I knew she needed to eat, of course. Just not how _often_ she needed to."

"Yeah…" Vaughn finished up his work and then turned to me once more. "You have any questions?"

"Uh, yeah!" I looked back at Korra, who was still trying to squish herself deeper into the corner. "Other than feeding her and letting her outside—after I build the pen—" I added, before he could correct me, "what else can I do to get her to like living with me? I mean, I want her to be a happy Torchic."

A faint smile crept onto Vaughn's face. "For starters," he began, tilting his hat slightly to cover his face even more than it did already, "you could talk with her every day. They like to be talked to and petted."

"Okay." I glanced back at Korra again. "Should I try it now?"

"Go ahead."

Slowly, I approached her. She cowered in her corner.

"It's okay, Korra! Don't be scared…" I said soothingly, dropping to my knees and holding out my hand.

"Chelsea!" Vaughn broke in sharply. "Your gloves!"

"Oh, right!" I dug in my pockets, pulling them out and hurriedly putting them on.

"You'll need to wear those gloves whenever you want to pet her… for several weeks at least," he explained. "Once she trusts you, you won't need them anymore. A Torchic never burns someone she trusts."

"Got it."

I held out my hand again, hovering it over her head for a few moments before finally touching her. She was shivering. I patted her carefully. "There, there…"

Suddenly, she jumped up, exclaiming her name in joy.

"Whoa!" I backed away, startled. "She _already_ likes me? That was fast!"

"Uh, no," Vaughn said blandly. "All Torchic respond positively to being petted, even with people they don't trust at all. You're nowhere near earning her trust… not yet."

"Oh," I frowned, disappointed.

"Well," he sighed, "any other questions for me?"

"Um, do I need to give her baths?"

"No. And don't brush her either. The brush is only useful for Miltank and Mareep."

"Okay… is she… could she evolve someday?"

"Impossible," Vaughn briefly shook his head. "The feed we've got has tiny bits of Everstone mixed in. As long as you keep feeding her, she'll never be able to evolve. And that's a good thing. Combusken and Blaziken don't lay edible eggs."

"Okay…" I barely understood much of that explanation, but I decided to pretend that I did. "Well, thank you. I'll do my best to take good care of her."

"Good." He turned to leave. "See you around."

I waited there a few moments, watching Korra chirp pleasantly. But it didn't take me long to snap back to reality… I had just let Vaughn onto the ranch… and sooner or later, I'd have to deal with Lucario's wrath…

I jumped up, running over to the door and stepping outside.

_I _told _you not to bring that animal dealer here! _A familiar voice thundered in my brain. _What were you _thinking_, bringing him back here!_

I closed the door before gripping my head with my hands. I hated it when he yelled like that… Felt like my whole brain was being jarred from the inside out. "You _really _need to learn how to _calm down_!" I yelled back, forgetting that he wasn't even close enough to hear me yet.

Ah, right! He _wasn't_ here yet! Now would be a great time to-

I dashed for town, hoping to avoid having to deal with him for now.

But of course, it wasn't to be. He appeared right before the bridge, looking livid.

"Sorry, Lucario!" Figuring it'd be stupid to slow down now, I continued to run at him full tilt, but I did alter course slightly, thinking I could just swerve past him. "But I can't stop to chat now! I'm kind of in a hurry!"

He moved to the side slightly as well, intent on blocking my path no matter what the cost. _I'm not here for a 'chat.' I want an explanation. And I _will _get one._

"But I'm _late_!" I exclaimed, closing in. "And it turns out, I left my fishing pole at Mirabelle's! I've gotta go and get it back! So get out of the way!"

I tried to swerve around him at the last second, but he seemed to anticipate the move. He threw out an arm, which effectively held me back. I immediately tried to duck beneath it, even though my momentum had been entirely lost by now, but that arm, along with the other one, encircled me, preventing any chance for escape.

_Why are you being—so—difficult!_ With no other options left, I just started thrashing, figuring I'd take a page out of Korra's book.

_You idiot! My chest spike! You're going to get-! _He abruptly let go of me and moved back, presumably to prevent me from getting pricked by the spike. I immediately seized the opportunity by dashing off for town, where I knew he wouldn't chase me.

"Sorry Lucario! But like I said, I'm in a hurry!" I called back to him, waving.

A deep growl reverberated in his throat. _Using my compassion to your advantage! _He seethed. _Just like a human! _

"Sorry!" I said again, still waving. "Be nice to Korra while I'm gone!"

…_Korra? _He repeated, his rage melting slightly in his confusion. _Who…? _Who _is Korra?_

"The newest member of the farm!" I grinned, finally turning around to head off. "Be nice to her while I'm gone!"

oOoOoOo

NOTES: So, do _you_ know who Korra is? XD


	16. So Raising a Torchic is Easy?

Spring 10 -11

So Raising a Torchic is Easy?

I carefully pushed open the door to find Lucario inside the coop, regarding Korra and Azurill's quiet conversation. Regarding but not participating.

"Hey… Lucario… I see you met Korra… Thanks for not attacking her!"

He sighed and regarded me with a weary look. _Your attempt at humor is pathetic. And it's certainly not enough to prolong the explanation you owe me any longer…_

"Actually, I was trying the 'kill him with kindness' approach… with only a tiny bit of humor mixed in…"

His expression didn't change.

"Okay, fine." I shrugged, barely resisting the urge to just walk away right now. "You want an explanation? It's simple. _Someone _had to deliver a Torchic here, and that somebody happened to be Vaughn. I couldn't help it. Mirabelle was the one who told him to bring her here, not me. If it was _my _choice, I certainly would've picked anybody else _but_ him. But it wasn't my choice, and I needed to get a Torchic somehow, you know!"

_If it were really that simple, I wouldn't have minded. _Lucario folded his arms and regarded me with a stronger intensity. _But it isn't that simple, is it?_

"What are you even talking about?" I threw up my arms, beyond annoyed. "You're not making any sense!"

He held his head in his paw, apparently weary once more. _I swear… I feel like I'm dealing with a child sometimes… I can't tell if you're in denial, or if you're just ignorant. _

"So then enlighten me, o Wise One…"

That comment only succeeded in making him angry. _You still have feelings for that piece of Shiftry, even after I _told you_ he was nothing but trouble! _he seethed.

"Piece of… Shiftry…?"

_A euphemism… _he explained, his mouth still contorted with rage. _You haven't heard of it? Then apparently _your_ kind prefers to speak like filth!_

"Hey… You swear more than I ever do…" I couldn't help but point out. 

_ Stop trying to throw me off topic! _

"I'm not… It's just… I don't know. I just don't think Vaughn is really as bad as you say. No offense, but you kind of tend to hate everybody, so… it's kind of hard to take your opinion on him seriously. You kind of seem to blow some things out of proportion… at times…" I glanced back at him warily, wincing slightly. Apparently, those words didn't sound so harsh in my mind, but when I actually started saying it all aloud… I came to realize otherwise.

However, when I looked at him, it seemed that he had calmed down somewhat, for whatever reason. Instead of raging at me in return, he stared off towards his right.

_I can't blame you if you don't want to take my word for it_,he finally answered, his tone considerably sedated now, _but if you really think about it, you can figure it out for yourself. _

"Think about what though?" I questioned, confused. "I mean, sure, Vaughn's a bit cold and distant… but for the most part, he seems nice enough to me. I really can't see why you hate him so much. I mean, I'm sure the Witch is scarier than he is…"

_You're wrong! _ he exclaimed, looking at me seriously. _Come on! Use that brain of yours and actually _think _about it! Or do I need to directly spell it out _for_ you, like I would a child!_

I scratched my head embarrassedly. "Um… Could you spell it out, please?"

He hung his head in sheer disbelief. _Are you really_ _that… pathetic…?_

"Well… I _have _been thinking about it… but I just don't get it. I mean, really, Vaughn seems alright to me. I really don't think he's evil or anything... I mean, come on…"

_Well then, can you answer me this? _Lucario asked testily, looking up at me with annoyance. _What is Vaughn's occupation? Can you at least tell me that? Or is it too hard for you?_

I shrugged, failing to see why this was even important. "He's an animal dealer. A cowboy, really."

_Yes, and what does a Pokémon dealer do? _he pressed.

"Well, I guess he… sells Pokémon…?"

_Exactly. _Lucario folded his arms over his chest, evidently holding the very idea in contempt. _He takes Pokémon from their homes and forces them to live with the humans who purchase them. And let me tell you, not every human is as willing as you to treat them respectfully. In fact, it's rather the opposite: they get treated like garbage, used as mere tools for self-serving purposes... _

_These Pokémon had their own lives, families, homes… and Vaughn is just one of those humans who takes it all away and replaces it with an entirely different life, a life apart from all that was familiar and comforting to them. All for his own profit, of course. He's a kidnapper and nothing more. It's disgusting and disgraceful. If he were decent, he would be ashamed of himself and would quit immediately. _

"Lucario…" I winced slightly, hardly certain of how to handle this. "You'll probably only get angry at me for saying this, but I think you should know… It isn't easy to live on your own… Sometimes it makes you do things you normally wouldn't… in order to survive. Vaughn may not have anyone to-"

_I don't care! _he exploded, furious. _That is no excuse! I've lived on my own for years, and it hasn't changed _my_ path in the slightest! It's _not _a matter of survival! Because I know I would rather die than subject someone else to the kind of life I had to live!_

I didn't know what to say. So I just watched him cautiously, hoping it would all blow over soon. He had obviously completely blown up now, and I didn't want to make things… any worse.

He balled up his fists and headed for the door, but he wasn't finished there. _If you must work to live, shouldn't you work to improve the world… instead of destroying it?_

Again, I didn't answer. But even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have known what to tell him…

With all that said, he left, closing the door after him.

After Lucario's explosion, everything felt strangely quiet. It wasn't for a few moments until I finally became aware of the fact that an odd chirping sound was breaking the silence. Looking up, I realized that Korra was cowering in the corner, whimpering. Even Azurill was cautiously taking cover behind the safety of her tail.

I opened my mouth to reassure them, but no words came out.

It was at this moment that I truly began to doubt if I really could handle all of this… Keeping all this chaos together… Could I really make it work without ruining everything…?

Could I really be so arrogant as to believe that I could provide answers for problems I had never even experienced before?

Honestly, what ever gave me the idea that living on this ranch was going to be simpler and easier than my former way of life? A pretty dumb supposition on my part, really…

I sighed and glanced over at the door Lucario had left through. It might seem a bit odd for me to say, but, in a way… I knew he was right.

I only hoped I was capable of improving this world…

But… didn't everyone else on this island strive for this as well? While I did believe Lucario's words, at the same time, I couldn't believe that everyone here was set on destroying the place and abusing the Pokémon who live here…

I knew there are both sides of the coin to consider, each had their own set of explanations and excuses, but…

Honestly if it ever came down to one massive clash between humans and Pokémon, who could I side with, if anyone?

I just… didn't know.

Spring 11

Oddly enough, I awoke the next day to the sound of someone pounding on the door, feeling utterly dazed at the now-unfamiliar sound. Who would be here at this hour?

I rolled out of bed and checked the clock only to discover that it wasn't even working at the moment. Sighing, I picked myself up off the floor and made my way to the door.

It was Taro. He gave me his usual greeting, waving his cane about cheerily.

"Hi Taro…" I rubbed my eyes, wanting to just drop on the floor and sleep right then and there. "More training sessions…?"

"Nah! Yeh've graduated from that already!" he shook his head. "Nah, I came here to tell yeh we've bin wantin' to build a new bridge! I've bin talkin' to Mirabelle an' Chen, and we've bin sayin' it'd be a good idea to put all our funds together to git one put up fer East Island! We'd certainly git more villagers if'n we does that!"

"Oh, okay... Should I contribute too?"

"Yep! That'd be great! Costs less the more people we put up to it!"

"It sure does... I'll save up for it..."

"Should be easy fer yeh!" Taro grinned, gesturing towards the field with his cane. "Considerin' the harvest yeh've got today!"

I glanced over there and was shocked to see that all of the potatoes had grown in, in addition to plenty of turnips. "Whoa! I guess you're right!"

He laughed, waving cheerily. "Work hard, young missy!"

oOoOoOo

Azurill continually prodded a ripe turnip until it seemed reasonably freed from the soil. From there, she heaved it up onto her back and carried it off to the shipping bin. She continued this cycle over and over again, one turnip at a time.

"You sure are persistent…" I offered her my bag for the tenth time. "But you know you can put them in here, right? That way, I could drop them all off at once, and you wouldn't have to make so many trips…"

Azurill simply glanced into my bag inquisitively for a few moments before resuming her work.

"Can you understand me?" I wondered aloud, but she wasn't paying attention anymore; the little one was already heading off for the shipping bin again, single turnip in tow.

Giving up for now, I turned back to the potatoes, unearthing them and dropping them off into my bag. Once Azurill returned, I decided to try talking to her again, just to see if I could get any indication at all of understanding. "Hey Azurill! Once we finish harvesting, I don't think we'll be able to water again until this evening… after I get the money for these crops. I just hope Chen's will still be open after five o'clock… If not, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to buy more seeds… since I'm flat out broke right now, you see."

Azurill squeaked, tilting her head to the side.

"You don't understand a word I'm saying, huh?"

"Azurill!" she proudly declared her own name before turning back to picking more turnips.

"You're awfully cute… And well, maybe someday we'll figure out a way to talk to each other somehow…" I told her before dragging my bag over to the shipping bin and dumping out its contents. "Oh, I almost forgot! After we get the last of these turnips here, we should go on and see Korra next! I'll bet she's hungry."

After gathering up the last of them, we headed off to do just that. Once we reached our destination, Azurill started playfully bouncing around in the doorway, while I headed over to drop off some feed for Korra.

I threw down the feed and watched the little chicken Pokémon expectantly, thinking she would run right over and start pecking. However, she remained as she was, merely glancing over at her breakfast with only half-hearted interest.

"What's wrong, Korra?" I asked, slowly moving closer so as not to startle her. "Aren't you hungry?"

She didn't answer and only watched me warily.

"Hmm… I guessing you probably don't like to eat when you've got someone standing there watching, huh? Well, I'll give you some privacy soon enough… I guess I just need to pet you first…?"

I sat down in front of her and slowly raised my hand up over her head. She didn't move, so I took that as a cue that I could pet her now.

But the second I touched her feathers, I bit my lip to keep from crying out and jerked back; my fingers were searing with pain. It felt like I had just touched a pan straight out from the oven…!

I waved my arm wildly to try to ease some of the pain and hurriedly backed away from that fiery chicken. I backed right up to the wall, wanting to get as far away from her as possible. I could already tell my fingers were burnt; I didn't even want to look at the damage…

And to my horror, Korra started hopping towards me… closer and closer. If she did this much damage to my fingers when I only momentarily touched her, I could just imagine how painful it'd be if she suddenly decided to jump on me…!

"Azurill!" I screamed, pointing at Korra frantically. "Distract her or something!"

The training had paid off. Azurill was in front of me within seconds. But instead of merely blocking the chicken's advance or diverting her attention, the little blue Pokémon opened up her mouth, unleashing a steady stream of bubbles. The bubbles, which looked harmless enough, actually turned out to be anything but once they struck Korra. Each bubble was like a brutal punch, knocking the hapless chicken this way and that as if she were a ragdoll.

I was speechless, unable to even think straight. Did Azurill just… attack Korra? _Why_?

Korra laid still for several moments before suddenly jumping to her feet. No longer was she that timid little Torchic... She was now completely pissed off.

She charged for Azurill, her beak seemingly sharpening by the second. The moment she had covered the distance, she began pecking madly.

Azurill started screaming. Despite Lucario's training, I highly doubted she had ever been attacked before now. What was I-what could I do?

I hastily got to my feet. "Stop fighting! Stop it! Stop it now!" I shrieked, but I was afraid to actually step in…

Touching Korra was obviously out of the question, but I couldn't quite get to Azurill with Korra seemingly everywhere. And even if I did manage to catch Azurill without getting burned up by my now-crazed Torchic, what would I do next? Hold her up like a target before getting the heck out of there?

Azurill had finally had enough of the pecking. Instead of screaming, this time, she unleashed another round of bubbles. Korra was sent flying from the intense blows, but she was back on her feet again quicker than last time. She started to charge for Azurill once more, and just when she was about to go for the final lunge…

Lucario caught her.

I hadn't even seen him come in, but there he was. He grabbed up the now-thrashing Korra in his arms and hastily side-stepped Azurill's next flurry of bubbles. He then started yelling at Azurill in that kangaroo language of his, and the little Pokémon quickly took cover behind my legs, occasionally peeking out to watch him struggle to reason with and maintain a hold on… our newest member to the farm.

Watching all of this, I really couldn't feel more stupid… If I had remembered my blasted gloves, this probably wouldn't have even happened… I just made a huge mess of things…

"Lucario, I—"

_Get her out of here_! he said irritably, gesturing at Azurill.

Not wanting to make this situation any worse, I hurriedly picked her up and did just that. Once we were safely outside, I let out a small sigh of relief and heavily leaned against the wall.

"Now are you okay, Azurill? I'm so sorry, I-"

I hurriedly looked her over for cuts or bruises, but…

She actually looked perfectly fine to me.

"Azurill?" She looked up at me curiously, blinking a little more frequently than usual.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay, at least…" I bit my lip, glancing back at the door to the coop. "But I bet Korra isn't… You've been trained, after all, and she hasn't… That's probably why she wasn't able to hurt you very much… Oh… this is all my fault… And I bet Lucario is just going to-"

It was at this moment that Lucario stepped out of the coop. Azurill suddenly hopped out of my arms and ran over to him.

I braced myself, feeling more than a bit nervous to find out about Korra's condition and knowing full well that I'd never hear the end of this major of a mistake.

But instead of starting in on that tirade, Lucario crouched down to Azurill's level and began growling at her.

He spoke with her for a long time. Once they were finally finished, he sent her off with a quick pat on the back. She ran off to go play in the little stream, seemingly content with the world.

Well, that was weird… I would have thought he'd get a bit angry at her too, but maybe… no, it was me he was going to chew out for all of this, of course. Who else? I was the one who made the big mistake here.

I gulped, knowing full well that there was nothing I could really do about all of this. This whole ordeal truly was my fault and entirely my fault. And there was nothing I could do to fix it now... The damage was already done. Two Pokémon injured… simply because I was too forgetful and stupid to put on gloves… I'd be lucky if Lucario didn't decide to go on a harangue lasting for hours… And Korra… She was now likely in bad shape… all because of me.

Lucario finally stood, looking me over carefully before simply asking, _Are you alright?_

I blinked. Out of everything he could have said right now, I truly hadn't expected that. "I, uh… my hand's probably a little burnt…" I moved it subconsciously; the pain was still there, but due to the chaos that had just happened, I had completely forgotten about it until now. "But it's…"

He unceremoniously grabbed my hand and held it up to his face to examine it closely.

"But it's nothing." I finished, feeling more than a bit stupid.

_You should probably eat a Rawst berry. That would help. _he nodded, taking my elbow and directing me towards the house.

"But what about Korra?" I exclaimed, incredulous.

_What about Korra? _he repeated, apparently unconcerned.

"_She's _the one who's hurt! You should be more concerned about her!"

_She's fine… _Lucario shrugged slightly, looking at me as if I had an arm growing out of my head. _But I suppose I can get her a few berries too, if that's what you really want…_

So I reluctantly walked along with him, just waiting for the verbal onslaught that was to come. But it wasn't happening…

He pulled open the refrigerator and sorted through the bucket he kept in there. _Here. This one here. _he told me, holding out a fat, blue berry.

"Thanks…" I took it and bit into it thoughtfully. "Ew, gross… it's so bitter!"

"It's not as bad as an herb, believe me…"

"Yeah, of course; it probably isn't." I hastily agreed with him despite not knowing anything about it, just in the hopes that it might help maintain his apparent good mood for just a bit longer.

He simply nodded and then started to walk away. I followed after him until he made his way back into the chicken coop. Feeling more than a bit anxious, I waited by the door while he simply strode into the room and threw down a few Oran berries.

Korra glared at them.

Lucario looked back at me and shrugged. _Told you she didn't really need any._

"But…" I trailed off, at a total loss for words.

_Yeah, she's pretty angry at the moment… but she'll forget about it sooner or later. _Lucario simply shrugged once more and left the room. As if nothing were wrong at all.

"So… that's… it? That's all you have to say?" I asked carefully, stepping out as well and closing the door.

_Hmm? _He turned around, looking confused. _What? I told you Korra's fine. She'll eat those berries eventually if she needs to. _

"Well, yeah, but… there's nothing else you have to say to me? I mean, I thought you would totally…"

_What? _He was still baffled. _What else do I need to say? Torchic is fine, and you… Well, Azurill told me earlier that you were injured, so… I helped. That's why I gave you that Rawst berry, remember? Is there something else? _

"Well, no, but…" NowI was entirely confused. "So then… you _aren't_ going to yell at me or anything? No excruciatingly long tirade? You're just going to walk away and leave it at that…?"

…_Why would I need to yell at you? _he asked suspiciously.

"Well, I…" I paused, wanting to look anywhere but his face. But of course, that happened to be just where my eyes landed. Naturally, he didn't look pleased. "Um… because… uh… Oh, it's all my fault! I should have worn gloves! It's just—I couldn't be more stupid when it comes to this!"

Looking back, it was probably pretty dumb of me to just confess without bothering to sweeten the details a little, but I just couldn't contain the guilt any longer… He had done just too good a job at pretending like he wasn't going to rage at me. I was never one of those people who could live with guilt for years and years… or maybe even minutes and minutes…

"I'm really, really sorry!" I exclaimed and winced as I waited for him to begin unleashing his rage.

_Okay… _Lucario regarded me blankly, blinking a bit more often than usual.

I bit my lip, waiting for the rest of it. But again, it didn't seem like he was all that angry with me.

"…Why… Well, why aren't you getting angry? The fight between Korra and Azurill was all my fault! I thought you'd be furious with me…!" 

He simply gazed at me for a few more minutes and then… he actually started to laugh.

I just stared at him, entirely dumbfounded.

_Chelsea… _he began finally, looking up at me with a slightly amused smile, _do you even know why_ _the two of them started fighting in the first place? Did you even realize what was going on?_

"Well, no, but…"

_Well, apparently Azurill had mistakenly believed you had called on her to attack Korra... That's what she told me anyway, and it makes sense… She sees you as her Trainer, after all. _

_Evidently it all started when she saw you pointing at Korra and yelling to her… Of course, she, like any well-trained Pokémon, believed you wanted her to attack. It was a misunderstanding, obviously, so I explained to her that you don't want her to attack any of your Torchic ever again. I had her repeat it back to me too, so now I'm very certain she knows better. _

"Oh… well, it's still my fault… I should have known that she might—"

_How _would _you know? _Lucario shrugged. _You can't speak Pokémon, so it would have been impossible for the two of you to communicate very effectively… But you really don't have to worry about it anymore; I've sorted it out, so it's fine. It won't be a problem anymore._

"Really?"

_Really. _

"Well… thank you…"

_Don't mention it. _He turned to leave.

"I can't believe you're being so… forgiving about this." I spoke up, and he halted in his tracks. "I mean, I just allowed two Pokémon to get injured… I can hardly believe you're just… letting it slide."

He let loose a small laugh before turning back around. _Chelsea, it was a brief scuffle... Things like that are bound to happen now and again. I don't really know why you're trying to blame yourself for this because honestly, it's in a Pokémon's nature to seek out battles to fight. It happens a lot… and without warning, sometimes. Besides, neither of them have very high Attack or Special Attack stats anyway… so they hardly did any real damage. I've seen far worse play fights, even. _

"It certainly didn't look like they were just playing around to me…"

_Well, they weren't. _he shrugged. _Azurill was under the impression that she needed to defend you, and Torchic became angry because she was getting attacked for no reason... But they're both a couple of weaklings anyway, so… it was hardly that bad. It's definitely not something that you would need to get all worked up over. _

_And you really should know… _he continued, folding his arms and nodding his head like a wise old master. _Pokémon are born to battle. We can handle a lot more than that silly scuffle you just saw. We aren't pushovers when it comes to physical pain, quite unlike you fragile humans, of course._

I couldn't help but startle at that bit of information. "So what the—I mean, if that's true, then how on—why on earth do you always come home with all these nasty wounds? What the heck do you even do to yourself every day that causes you to get like that? You say you can handle a lot, so it must be something really horrible if you're constantly getting so injured!"

He grumbled and shook his head. _You just always want to go there, don't you? Can't do _anything_ these days without informing you of my every move… I don't understand why you can't just mind your own business and leave me be!_

"It's because I'm getting scared!" I countered. "I mean, that fight between those two… it scared me! And here, you just laugh it off like it's some kind of joke! If you think _that's _nothing, then I can hardly imagine what it is that _you're _doing!"

_I did not find their battle amusing, _he shot back darkly. _Your reaction to it is what I found ridiculous. Just like with me, you're over-reacting and worrying about nothing but nonsense! _

"I don't mean to be annoying; it's just that I'm—you know I'm genuinely concerned here."

_Give me a break. You don't care what happens to me._

"If I didn't, then I wouldn't bother to ask what you're up to. But I am."

_Just cut it out already. It's getting on my nerves…_

"_You're _getting on _my _nerves…"

He gave me a smug look. _I tend to have that effect on people…_

"Yeah… I bet you do…"

He grinned; apparently he was quite proud of that.

"Yeah… whatever. So hey, I've got ask you something… How were you able to pick up Korra without getting burnt? I mean, all I did was try to pet her, and it felt like… putting my hand into an open flame…!"

Lucario blinked, apparently a bit stunned by the question. _Actually, I… don't really know. I didn't even think of it… Maybe she knew I wanted to help her?_

"I'm not too sure about that… based on the way she was thrashing around when you held her…"

_I guess I just got lucky. _He shrugged with a small smile. _She probably trusted me enough to hold her for a while, but she wasn't too keen on letting me get away with it for long. _

"Maybe…" Smiling, I reached out and ruffled his head.

_Before I forget, there is one thing you really should remember… _His expression turned serious. _It can be rather difficult for Pokémon of certain types to get along, at times. This will be especially true for Azurill and Torchic. You see, a Fire type like Torchic typically doesn't take kindly to Water types, like Azurill… _

_I even have troubles with this myself, when it comes to Ground, Fighting and Fire types. And as you saw, the Witch Princess' Arbok takes a lot of pride in bothering me, mainly because he's of Poison type, a type that I'm immune to. Essentially… it will take some time before Azurill and Korra grow to like each other, even in the best of situations. _

"So… if you hate Fire types, why'd you bother to protect Korra?"

_I had to push that any of that nonsense aside for the moment if I wanted to end that battle anytime soon. Besides, she has done me no wrong so far, so I feel I shouldn't make suppositions about her just yet. And well… _he paused, fidgeting awkwardly. _I did tell you I'd help you where I could. _

"Aww… thanks…" I reached out and scratched behind his ears, something that I remembered he had really liked.

He hummed softly and wagged his tail, much like a little puppy would.

As this was going on, I couldn't help but wonder… It seemed the more I talked with him, the less I realized I actually knew about him… But well, I would learn eventually, I think.

_Now I really wish I had fingernails too…_

oOoOoOo

NOTES: Gaah, this chapter got long fast…

I was planning for a bit more focus on the townsfolk for this chapter as well, but it was getting long… And I really wanted to get a new chapter out for you guys, so… I guess those ideas will have to be saved for next chapter.

And I'm thinking Chelsea will have her first Heart Event soon… :D

I'm debating whether to re-watch the events on youtube so they'll be more accurate in this story, or to just allow my shoddy memory to take over so they'll be more original… I guess we'll see. XD

Forgive me if it takes a long time for upcoming chapters to get finished though, since I'm back in school again… T-T

Well, thanks for hanging in there for me. Until next time!


	17. Toss for Affection?

NOTES: Well, I've decided to change around Chelsea's personality quite a bit. Or maybe it's not such a great difference and you'll hardly even notice it…?

But anyway, I was getting tired of my attempts at making Chelsea perky and cheerful all time. She just felt so cheesy to me, so… I'm going to make her more… awkward. I think it'll make her feel a bit more authentic, well to me at least.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the change; I'll be eager to see how it seems to go over with everybody. But I'm probably going to keep the change anyway, regardless of anybody's opinions… *evil laugh*

Egh… But I'm so not looking forward to going back and changing all those old chapters… DX

Although, I was thinking of revising everything anyway, and I guess this just might give me more motivation to do it.

Anyway, I'm sorry for the long wait (as usual) and please enjoy.

Spring 11

A Toss for Affection?

'Okay, so… Gannon's shop… it must be here…'

I slowly considered the sturdy wooden house before me. Honestly, I hadn't ever visited the guy before, so I supposed the best-looking house that didn't already belong to someone else I knew had to belong to him. All I really knew was that he was a carpenter, and well… this place looked well-made...

I carefully opened up the door and was greeted with what sounded like a low grumble. Just behind the counter several feet beyond the door sat Ganondorf himself.

Er, I mean Gannon.

"Hi, I was just wondering if I could look over your prices…?"

"O' course! Course! Come right on over, missy!" the burly man grinned, revealing comparatively small and weak-looking teeth.

"Sure. Thanks." But my smile soon faded once I saw his prices…

Why was everything on this island so expensive!

I would definitely have to plan all these expenses out… To be honest, the buildings on the farm would likely fall apart in a few years if I didn't find the money to fix them up a bit. And not to mention, that bridge construction everybody in town wanted me to help pay for…

After gathering my fill of the harshness that is reality, I pushed the lists back to Gannon. "I think I'm going to try for the bridge construction first, once I—"

"Bridge construction! Perfect! Would you like to pay a little extra for my lumber or would you like to save a little and use your own?"

"Oh no!" I hurriedly shook my head. "I'm not actually going to pay for that today. I guess I was just talking to myself… I don't have any money right now."

Gannon trembled slightly. After a few seconds, his face turned a brick red. "WHY CAN'T YAH MAKE UP YER DANGED MIND!" he roared, spraying spit everywhere.

I stumbled backwards in horror, too stunned to even wipe away all the saliva that had flown onto my face. "I-I I'm sorry! I didn't even—Sorry!"

"Oh, Daddy! Are you scaring away the customers again?"

Um… who was that? That voice sounded so… young and feminine… Did he have a niece or something? Who would…?

"Oh! Chelsea!" Gannon suddenly perked up, all anger completely forgotten. "Have you met my daughter, Eliza?"

"Your… daughter…?" I repeated faintly.

"Eliza! Come on out here and meet Chelsea, that rancher girl!"

"I'm right here, Daddy…" a tiny girl, probably not much older than Charlie, stepped out from behind the wall. Without a second thought, she marched right up to me and stared me down, as if she were appraising my worth.

Somehow feeling a bit intimidated by those adorable, yet piercing and disapproving, green eyes, I hurriedly wiped away all that spit from my face and gave her an undoubtedly sheepish grin. "Well, hello… um…?"

"Eliza! My name is Eliza!" she shot back with obvious annoyance.

"Yes, Eliza! It's… nice to meet you!" I said hurriedly, offering my hand to shake.

But she ignored my outstretched hand and returned to her appraisal, even going so far as to touch my clothes and prod at my boots.

"Well…" she began finally, folding her little arms and practically glaring at me, "I wouldn't say you're pretty, but with a little work on your outfit, maybe you could pass off as a little above… okay. Anyway, you'll never be as pretty as me, that's for sure. I'd be willing to give you lessons though, since you obviously need help from a master."

"Uh… Okay…?"

"Ain't she just a doll?" Gannon spoke up, beaming proudly.

"Yeah…" I trailed off, doing my best to conspicuously back away for the door.

oOoOoOo

With a small sigh, I tentatively reached up and knocked on Mirabelle's door.

Regardless of the reassurance Lucario had given me earlier, I still felt that I had a long way to go when it came to caring for Torchic. I needed help. That was for certain.

"Hello!" Julia sang out cheerily, just seconds after bursting through the door. "Hey! Chelsea? Why didn't you just come right in? I mean, you're one of our best customers after all, right?"

"Well… I didn't actually come here to shop…" I pointed out awkwardly, somewhat afraid of being blasted down again for not wanting to purchase something. "You see, I just wanted to… Well, I need help. Could I… ask you for some more tips for raising Torchics?"

"Well, of course! I'd be happy to teach you _all_ about it! Caring for them is a piece of cake, really! Come on!"

"I sure hope so…" I trailed along after her, following her to the back of the house where the fields laid in wait.

She hopped right over the fence without a second thought, although I figured it'd be best for me to just hang back here… behind the fence. There were quite a few cow Pokémon sitting around in the pasture, and, considering that mini war that had gone on between my Torchic and Azurill, I really didn't want to go anywhere near these larger Pokémon. Though they looked harmless enough, just munching on the grass and chatting to each other, I didn't want to imagine what might happen if they decided to start fighting. Azurill and Korra's "weak" battle was more than enough for my liking… I just didn't want to get caught up in something even worse… or worse yet, cause another battle with my ignorance…

"Hey… wait a second…" Julia held a hand over her eyes, blocking out the afternoon sun's rays as she gazed at… none other than Vaughn. Not surprisingly, he was tending to the sheep Pokémon several yards away, paying no mind to either of us. "Wasn't _Vaughn_ supposed to teach you about raising Torchic?"

"Oh, he did!" I jumped in quickly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "He helped out a lot; it's just… well, I guess I'm just dumb…"

She turned back around and giggled, waving her arm as if to dismiss the idea, "Oh, don't be silly! You're not dumb at all!"

"Well, close enough. Anyway, I can tell your Torchic really seem to like you… so could you tell me the best way to help mine like me?"

"Well…" Julia glanced skyward, thinking carefully, "I'm sure Vaughn already told you that you need to feed them regularly, take their eggs, and let them outside to play… You'll have to bring them back inside every night, of course… and don't let them out when it's raining… Well, and… aside from that, all you really have to do is throw them every day…That's really all there is to it! Easy peasy!"

"Wait. Do you just say you need to… _throw _them?"

"Yeah. Like this," Julia stated nonchalantly and ran over to the nearest Torchic, seizing it and holding it up above her head before tossing it into the air.

Upon landing, the Torchic squealed, dancing a little jig before resuming its business of pecking at the grass.

"What… the…" I stared. "This… this has to be some kind of… This is a joke, right?"

"Um… no…" Julia seemed just as confused at my reaction as I was to this outrageous way of befriending Pokémon. "That's what they like. Everybody does it."

"Everybody…?" I paused, trying to consider all this wackiness.

It really seemed stupid as all get out, but… maybe it might work? I mean, that Torchic seemed happy…?

"Does Vaughn throw Torchics too?" I couldn't help but wonder aloud. He seemed like a sensible guy… Not that Julia wasn't sensible… it was just… I couldn't imagine him doing something like that… at all.

"Well, yeah…" Julia shrugged. "If the Pokémon like it, then why not?"

In my mind's eye, a cartoonish yet demonic Vaughn grabbed up Torchic after Torchic and threw them everywhere in a manic frenzy…

I shook my head furiously to get rid of the image. "Okay, let me get this straight… Pokémon actually _like_ to get picked up and then thrown? It's_ not_ a form of abuse?"

"I guess it might seem a little strange, but yeah… that's kind of how it is…"

Huh. Well no wonder Lucario was so annoyed with me all the time... I hadn't even thrown him once!

oOoOoOo

_You're back early… _Lucario paused, looking up from his lunch to shoot me a puzzled look.

Both he and Azurill were sitting on the floor, eating the berries that were spread out on the ground before them. Well, that was sanitary…

"Yeah… I'm too broke to buy seeds, and I haven't gone fishing yet…" I explained, crouching down to scratch between Azurill's ears once she ran over to me. "But I did learn something new today, and I really wanted to test it out!"

_ Hmm… sounds frightening. Well, go ahead. What is it?_

"Just watch!" I said proudly, seizing Azurill and holding her up above my head. From there, I tossed her to the ground, where she landed with graceful bounce of her tail. Much like Julia's Torchic, she gave a little celebratory dance before squealing her name. "Ha! It even works for Azurill too!"

_ Well, of course it would work on her. Many Pokémon like to be thrown. _Lucario agreed, rising to his feet and dusting himself off.

"That they do!" I echoed with a grin, running right over to him and clutching his waist. I was pretty sure I couldn't hold him up over my head, but I figured I could at least lift him off the ground for a minute before tossing him. "Gah, what the-? Why are you-so heavy!"

_What are you even-doing? _he exclaimed, flailing around in my grip before finally pulling free. _What are you, a complete moron! What were you even trying to-!_

"Hey, come on! I just want you to like me too!" I cried, chasing him around the house. "What are you even running away for? I thought you'd like this! Aren't you a Pokémon too!"

_Don't be stupid! _I had finally cornered him by the counter of the kitchen, but he held me back with an outstretched paw. _It doesn't work on _me_, you idiot! Listen! Did you_ really_ think you could pick up and throw a _Miltank_ every day! Why would I be any different? You can't pick up and throw Pokémon that weigh over a hundred pounds! It just _doesn't _make sense! Use your head for once!_

"Wait, what? You weigh more than a hundred pounds?" I couldn't help but ask, looking over him doubtfully. "But you're so short… not even five feet tall, I bet. How could you ever get that fat?"

_I am _not _fat! _he exclaimed indignantly, now more irritated than ever. _I'm a Steel type Pokémon! _

"So what? Does that mean your bones made of steel then?" I wondered, prodding his arm lightly.

_I don't know! I certainly haven't seen them before! _he huffed, pulling his arm back and ducking around me to make his escape.

'Well… I guess that turned out to be a bit of an epic fail…' I sighed inwardly while he glared daggers at me from across the room. 'I wonder if I'll ever get the hang of this caring for Pokémon business…'

oOoOoOo

"Whoa! Nice! That might be a new record!"

"You think so?" I eagerly hauled in my catch, placing him carefully in my bucket. "So are we talking about your record or mine?"

"Yours." Denny hesitated a moment, looking over my rod thoughtfully. "Yeah, your rod's a little old. No way it can stand up to mine!"

"Huh. Well, we'll see… It's old, but it's still not broken in yet!" I pointed out, tossing the line back out. From there, I paused, glancing out at the beach. "Hey… is that… Vaughn…? What's he doing over there?"

Denny leaned back, apparently unconcerned. "Yeah, Vaughn sometimes hangs out around the beach at this time of day. I don't really know what he's up to… but I usually don't bother talking to him unless he comes up to talk to me. He's kinda funny that way, you know?"

"Um… not really…?" I shrugged, confused as to what he meant by that. "Hey, maybe I should go and ask him if he'd like to fish too? Er wait, do you have an extra fishing rod he could use?"

He laughed, "Yeah, of course! Being a fisherman who's _always _prepared, I've got plenty to spare, but the question is: does he even want it?"

"Well, he's just standing out there all by himself… I hate to just leave him there like that… I mean, even if he doesn't want to fish, at least he could hang out and chat with us, right?"

"Alright…" he shrugged, eyeing me with a small grin, "but it's your funeral…"

I shook my head and chuckled, rising up to my feet before heading over to the lone cowboy. Vaughn seemed to stiffen at my approach and was actively avoiding my gaze. His arms were crossed and his gaze, firmly fixed on the sea, even once I was within only a few feet of him.

"Hey Vaughn," I flashed a smile, hoping to set him at ease. "What's up? You want to join me and Denny? We're fishing right now, but we could all just talk if you want… I mean…"

"_What_ do you _want_?" he suddenly demanded, his cold gaze finally meeting mine.

I faltered a moment, a bit flustered by the severity of his tone and the abruptness of his question. Didn't he hear me just a second ago? But I hurriedly repeated myself, hoping not to annoy him even more by not talking fast enough.

But he cut me off midsentence. "No."

Just a short and simple word, but his intention couldn't be clearer. He sounded so disgusted with me, like I was some kind of annoying fly who just wouldn't go away, even though I had only been around for a few minutes. Maybe… it just didn't take long for me to become really annoying.

His words sounded so final as well; nothing was going to change the mind behind that intimidating gaze.

At a loss for words, I just turned back around and headed back to the pier, without replying.

"Well… I take it that's a no…" Denny said slowly and awkwardly once I plopped down beside him.

"Yeah… I think he's ticked off at me now too…"

"Eh, don't mind him. He's just… Well, he can be a pretty grumpy dude, you know?"

I didn't respond, choosing to instead toy with the reel of my rod. Maybe it really wasn't that he was grumpy; maybe it was just that I was irritating. The same went for Lucario, Gannon… There were just too many people involved for it to be just a coincidence. Maybe there was just something about me that rubbed people the wrong way…

"Hey, um…" A piece of wood on my rod was peeling off, and my messing with it was worsening the issue. "Do you think I'm…? Well, do you think I'm pesky?"

"What?" he laughed, shrugging and shooting me a comically puzzled expression, "Of course not! Why would I?"

"Well…" That bit of wood was just so fascinating now. "I think… maybe…"

"Hey, you know what?" he stopped me, leaning over so that he could make eye contact. "Why don't we head inside and I'll make you my specialty? Fish stew? It can be good… sometimes at least."

"Um, really? You don't have to…"

"Come on! I'm hungry; you're hungry; it's lunchtime; let's go!" he exclaimed, jumping up to his feet and heading for his house.

Smiling and shaking my head once more, I rose and followed after him.

Despite the amount of times I've fished with him, I had never actually been inside Denny's place before, and its interior surprised me. The majority of the house, save for the bathroom, was entirely one room, just like mine and Lucario's. But right in the middle of this house, however, laid a traditional Japanese hearth. On the far wall to the right, rested an old, yet impressive, collection of fishing gear. Overall, the place felt very cozy and well taken care of, despite the occasional clutter.

"Wow…" I immediately moved over to the hearth to admire it. "This is amazing…really…"

"Heh, you like it?" he sent me another of his playful grins before moving towards his small, yet surprisingly tidy, kitchen. "It's not much, but I try to keep everything in good condition, at least."

"It's great…" I turned back to smile at him. "Where did you get this hearth? Do you like Japanese styles?"

"Of course. You like it? Hey, you make me to make something using that?"

"I would love that, actually… I've always wanted to try out something like this before…!"

"Heh, well then, how could I refuse?"

He moved over to the hearth, starting up a fire with what looked to me like a practiced expertise.

"Do you know a lot about Japanese cooking?" I asked as I watched him prepare a fish.

"I wouldn't say a lot, but I'll admit I did learn a few things about it while I was there…"

"You lived there?"

"Heh, you better believe it. The fishing's great over there."

"So why did you leave?" I questioned without thinking. And then it hit me. Old habits never die hard… "Um, I mean, if you don't mind me asking, of course!"

"Nah, it's alright. I don't mind," he began, moving back a little from the hearth to take a seat on a nearby cushion. He gestured for me to do the same and continued, "Mostly, I just wanted to get away from it all. There's a lot of hustle and bustle in those ports and shipyards… I just want to take life in the slow lane… take the time to appreciate the small things, you know?"

I smiled softly. "I know what you mean…"

He smiled in return, one that seemed far less boisterous than all previous smiles he had shown me before… It was actually… very sweet.

Before I knew it, several minutes had passed, with the two of us just sitting there smiling blankly at each other. Denny realized this before me and promptly shook his head before pointing over in the general direction of his fishing supplies. "Hey, I ever, uh, show you this stuff before?"

"Um! No, I haven't seen it…" I rose and followed after him to take a closer look.

Indeed, the gear was very well taken care of; the nets weren't tangled, instead arranged in separate piles. It was a little cluttered, but everything did seem to have its own place. I couldn't resist touching one of the spears; it was still very smooth despite its obvious age.

"You really take great care of this stuff…"

"Yup," he nodded, "this gear's my livelihood after all. Gotta take good care of it."

"Good care of it!" Popper squawked suddenly, causing me to jump. I had almost forgotten he was even there.

"Um…" I turned back to the spears. "Do you… use these often?"

"Not recently. But I have used them quite a lot, back when I went diving."

"You've been diving?"

"Yeah! Did I ever tell you? It's where I found this! My shark tooth!" he exclaimed, gesturing to the keepsake on his chest.

I gazed at it carefully. Previously, I had just thought he wore some kind of necklace or something, but now, on closer inspection, I could see that a decent-sized shark tooth hung on the end of the cord.

"Where did you find it, at the bottom of the ocean?" I asked, eyes wide. I could hardly imagine being that deep down underwater.

"No way!" he burst out laughing. "I got it off a shark I speared!"

"You speared a _shark_!" I cried, incredulous.

"Yeah, it was a pretty nasty one… He and I… well, it wasn't pretty. That's why I keep this. It's a reminder to respect nature. I know to give it space, but if it comes after me, I'm going to fight back. Always gotta be prepared, ya know?"

"Yeah…" I said weakly, "that's so… scary! I'm glad you're okay!"

"Yeah, it can get pretty intense…" he acknowledged, stretching lightly.

"Denny's showing off! Denny's showing off!" Popper squealed, flapping his wings and spattering feathers everywhere.

"Eh, shut up…" Denny swatted the bird away playfully, and he flew off to rest on the futon rolled up in the corner. "See? He _is _an annoying bird…! Spreading lies and stupid stories…!"

I couldn't help but smile, which only grew stronger after hearing Popper's over-the-top "sobbing" sounds.

oOoOoOo

When I returned to the ranch, seeds in hand, I was surprised to not see any sign of Azurill and Lucario. Were they… done training for the day? Already? And they were just out when I came to pick up my earnings from the shipment box…! That was only a few minutes ago.

Shrugging, I headed up to the house to discover that they were relaxing on the kitchen floor, much like they had been back when I had visited them earlier that afternoon. "Well hey there! What are you two up to?"

Lucario looked up, regarding me with that usual annoyed look. _So… you're in love with the fisherman… _

Stunned by the suddenness of the statement, I quickly covered my face with my hands to hide the fact that it had flustered me. "What the-? Where did you-Why do you-Why are you even bringing it… up…! I don't even—! Okay… I mean: why do you even care about any of that anyway!"

_I don't care actually. It's just written everywhere, all over your face, your Aura… it's like you're just _begging_ for me to bring it up…_

"That's-What? That's not even… That's not even true…! I just… um… I didn't say anything about that!"

_You don't have to. Like I said, it's everywhere._

"That's not true…! You're just… messing around…!"

_Whatever. It's better than the cowboy, at least. _He turned to Azurill and motioned for her to follow me. _You wanted Azurill, right?_

"Um, yes, but… you're done training?"

_Yes… _he sighed, rather heavily, _we decided to finish early today._

"Oh…" This response puzzled me. "Are you… feeling okay?"

_Of course I am! _he shot back, rising to his feet and crossing his arms. _I just thought… it might be nice if I gave Azurill a break. _

"Oh!" I couldn't hold back a grin. "Well that's… so nice of you!"

_It's not that amazing, you know… _he grumbled, turning his back to me and heading over to the wall, where he always liked to meditate. _Just go water the plants…_

oOoOoOo

NOTES: Ahahaha, Azurill is starting to grow on Lucario…

And you know, I always thought it was a little strange that, in the games, you always throw your chickens around to keep them happy… I bet a real chicken would just love it if I tried that out… XD

So, personality change? Love it? Hate it? Don't care? Didn't notice it?

Anyway, I'm thinking it might take me a while to post another chapter… I really want to fix the older chapters, though I'll still be likely to work on the newest one whenever I start to get bored with that. We'll see what happens, I suppose.

I'm just happy to be free from school for a while… sigh…

Keep a lookout on my profile (at the bottom) if you want to keep track of the updates for the older chapters! By the way, chapter one is already done, and two is on its way soon. Please feel free to let me know what you think of the new revisions, if you'd like. You might have to do it by PM or something, since FFNet is a little particular about letting you review the same chapter twice… (Found that out the hard way before… :/)

Ah, but I'm rambling again! Thank you and I hope to see you soon (ish!)


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